The End has begun
by balckwatch1
Summary: An empire torn out of its galaxy stands ready to burn the stars once more, in the emperor's name.
1. Chapter 1

**Coruscant, Cosanca System March 20****th****, 2322  
**

"Pull the third fleet around the asteroid and hit them in the flank! And get Admiral Gallin on the horn!"

"Sir! The 45th Reports two dozen more just dropped in from FTL in sector 34A, there being overwhelmed." 

The 45th, a ragtag fleet of cobbled together star destroyers from eight different taskforces had been put together only days ago. Their only purpose in this life was to expend their lives in the hopes of holding the enemy at bay for a few hours, a day at most. Their time was at an end and the home fleet could spare none, they would die for the empire.

"Inform the 45th, the empire commends them for their service."

The comms officer's face showed no emotion per imperial regulation, but it was her eyes that showed the lights dim slightly. She was young, most likely straight out of the academy and her first battle was one which determined the fate of the empire. 

"Home fleet firing on anything not showing imperial IFF, reports are coming in from the inner colonies that all fleets are moving at utmost speed or the capitol sir!"

He was old, at 155 one of the oldest admirals in the empire and in his waning years he'd seen just how far the empire could grow in a galaxy full of danger. When he had been born the "empire" had been maybe a dozen planets with Coruscant still bearing the marks of it great forest and oceans. Now the great metropolis below housed over a hundred billion and the empire spanned half the galaxy. His last command before retirement was now in flames with hundreds of ship firing turbolasers into the horde quickly approaching his home.

"Get the 3rd and 5th to the other side of the planet, the 45th wont last long and those bastards will be closing fast."

"Sir Admiral Gallin coming on screen."

"Fleet Admiral Bellign, the 67th Scouts are jumping in behind the buzzards in section 34A. We will save the 45th and regroup as fast as we can."

"Gallin, how is the shipyards holding up?"

"The infiltrators have been beaten back using the 3rd clone shock army, they managed to desoty a titan docked but the rest of the 1st fleet has been recovered, Sir. I'm requesting more troops to search the rest of the yard."

"Gallin those ships are vital, get them launched as soon as possible and when they create a buffer big enough, I'll send in 4 shock armies from the home fleet."

"Thank you, sir, for the empire."

"For the empire Admiral Gallin."

With the 1st free of rebels, their titans could launch and expand the buffer zone he had created around the capitol. Looking over the holo table he grimaced at the sheer amount of star destroyers duking it out with the unknowns. Popping out right behind the survivor's form earlier they had swarmed the outermost pickets before zoning in on the only inhabited planet in the system and its Giga sized shipyards. Millions already lay dead due to the fleet's response, the sluggishness of information passing between the thousand or so ships allowed the unknowns to bypass not one, not two, but three fleets and annihilating them to the man. An early victory to be sure, but the titans would swing the tide of this battle and stop these monsters cold.

"New contacts bearing 290, estimated 300 new contacts all showing same class as those In the system." 

The enemy's numbers were astounding for a race that had never been seen before. Where they had constructed so many capital ships, he couldn't fathom. Nor could he see just how they'd bypassed so many fortress worlds and fleets meant to stop just what was occurring right now. The mass relay constructed a hundred years ago hadn't responded for hours, ever since the first sighting of these unknowns. But the other side of the relay held a world at the edge of, no, It couldn't be possible. The relay had been built to transport response to any possible Xeno invasion, if the enemy had taken the other side and was using it to enter the system then they had entered from the other side of the galaxy itself. 

"Admiral, comms code Alpha 1 incoming!"

The emperor.

"Put him on screen."

The most powerful man in the universe, a man who had commanded the empire for one hundred years and conquered half the known galaxy. Two thousand worlds answered to the emperor of man, untold trillions of human beings alongside the billions of captured Xeno slaves. The hologram began with the unmistakable armor of the emperor's personnel legion coming into view.

"Admiral Bankston, verify."

Came the modulated voice of a clone under the unemotional helmet. Blue pauldrons against white armor identified him as the legion commander. A pair of blasters sat on his hips while he stood as rest on the other side of the projector.

"Sierra, Alpha, Whiskey, 1-1. Admiral Bankston serial number 005."

"Identified. Wait one for the emperor."

The line shut and Bankston was already sweating, he had commanded battles where billions laid their lives on the line and now, he began to sweat with after waiting for a single man. After what seemed like hours but were only seconds, the emperor's face came into view. At 200 years old he was at the end of his long-accomplished life, building an empire would add on untold mileage to the human body but the leader of man continued on.

"Admiral Bankston, the capital of the empire is in danger by an unknown fleet of massive size. What is your answer to this threat?"

"My lord, all fleets in the system are responding with the titans now forming a backbone of Coruscant's defense, We have gotten word from the inner colonies that all fleets are making haste while we give our lives for time my lord."

The old man pondered for a moment, resting his head in his hand he began to tap on his other knew while he debated Bankston information.

"These unknowns are using the mass relay to enter yes?"

"Yes my lord."  
"Then we must stop their way of advance, the mass relay must be destroyed."

"My lord, no one, no human or alien has ever attempted to destroy a mass relay, the danger of doing so-"

"Irrelevant, the capitol of mankind stands endangered and we must do anything to defend it. You will destroy the mass relay under my order."

"Yes my lord, your will is my command."

The emperor gave a single nod before ending the transmission. Bankston let the tension leave his frame before turning back to the trenches on either side of him and seeing every crewman staring.

"Prepare the colossus, it may be the only thing capable of cracking the mass relay."

The bridge crew, regaining their composure began to shout orders to hundreds of ships in the fleets once more. The defense of coruscant would not fail, not wither, they would keep the cradle of humanity safe and continue the reign of the emperor.

Hidden against the backdrop of thousands of drydocks, a weapon of unimaginable scale began its takeoff sequence. Hundreds of thousands of crew who had been setting up defensive positions in hundreds of stations and corridors rushed to their consoles and stations to prepare the one and only god killer. At its helm, a newly inducted Admiral began to pacer the network of trenches which made up its command bridge. Rear Admiral Terrance had served the empire for forty years as a supply commander, he had kept the fronts up to date on munitions and food to keep the armies of humanity moving. In doing so he had earned the spotlight of high command and been given command of the empire's most feared weapon. 

"Sir, weapons report all systems functional, engines report another ten minutes hot status, fighter bays report 100% sir."

Ten minutes, ten long minutes of feeling the emperor's eye staring at him from the homeworld. His wisdom filled gaze, a gaze which had seen humanity's future and determined it was to take the stars by fire and sword. How many billions, no trillions of aliens had died due to his words he couldn't fathom, but in his time on the front, he had seen the cracked and burned worlds. Passing through systems it was hard to not stare at the graveyards of a trillion souls and ask himself if this is what it took. On seeing the thousands of ships entering his people's homeworld hell-bent on their destruction, it seemed it was. 

The crew around him droned on, preparing the god weapon for usage while he stared out of its glass viewports at the light show of weapons fire. The unknown had a knack for close range, grabbing onto imperial vessels and burning through their hulls which precise cutting tools. Comparable to maybe cruiser class, he could not notice any real long-range capability among those he deemed cruisers while the fatter slower vessels acted like the carriers of the imperial navy. Disgorging hundreds of thousands of drones like craft, these carriers threw their entire contingents into the imperial lines. Intermixed with these thousands of craft were vessels smaller than the cruisers which looked to be of the exact same design, only smaller in scale. These vessels either hunted in packs or bore the brought of imperial fire in the massive space battle where hundreds died every second. A very close blue light interrupted his observation as the shipyards static weapons came online, the ship killing battle stations numbered in the hundreds and were just now entering the battle with dozens of blue bolts flying toward the fight.

"Sir, all stations report green. I have Admiral Bankston on the horn."

"Patch him through Lieutenant."

The aging white face of Admiral Bankston appeared on the holographic interface, sweat covered his brow as the ship around him shook from impacts. 

"Rear Admiral Terrance, I have elected the 5th Fleet to escort the battle station to within optimal firing range of the mass relay. One hundred-star destroyer's of his grand navy alongside five titan class vessels are to be your protectors in the coming battle, I trust you to not waste their lives. Ahead of you are at least a thousand vessels of varying classes who are making a beeline for the docks, you are to break through and destroy the mass relay per the emperor."

"Yes sir, for the empire."

"Yes, for the empire,"

Bankston signed off just as the thrusters engaged and the god weapon which shook the stars took flight.

**Harbinger, Stellaris Galaxy**

Too long, they had waited too long in their coming. Thousands had already died under the withering fire of these, mortals. Humans, a species who in only three hundred years had conquered half the galaxy with weapons never seen before. Laser for one had never been seen in any cycle of the past were now passing kinetic barriers and killing his brethren by the thousands. It did not stop there, of course, these savage mortals had created something far darker than even he would do. A weapon that cracked planets, literally igniting the core of the planet beyond normal limits and detonating it from the inside. His scouts had found hundreds of planets that this weapon had been used on, their core destroyed, and tectonic plates cracked, if he had been a mere mortal, he would of shed a tear for not saving them from damnation sooner.

He would see to this empire ruin, they would never meet salvation, they were to be expunged from this galaxy so that they could never taint it again. All manner of reaper vessels threw themselves at the humans, 70% of the fleet was either en-route or currently engaged with the human's homeworld where if his scouts had been right, 50% of their fleet lay in docks. Their emperor was here as well and would be captured as used as a puppet to make dealing with these feeble creatures all the easier.

Harbinger sat at the rear of the reaper's lines, far beyond the range of the human fleet he witnessed all and cataloged battle plans and fleet tactics while others burned and died. Something massive suddenly backlit itself on this system's blue sun, an object so massive it could be one thing which somehow made a machine, shiver. Harbinger sent a single message to hundreds of capitol ships within a millisecond. 

TARGET PRIORITY_ENGAGE_GOD_WEAPON

Across the void, thousands of ships engaged and IFFs for reaper's died in the dozens under withering Lasor fire. First dozens then hundreds, his kind died while the weapon continued its march across space to, no. How the humans had cracked the technology of the mass relays his indoctrinated did not know, only that somehow, they had and built one within their home system. This mass relay a direct copy of a major mass relay was what had allowed the sudden invasion of the human's homeworld. The weapons being moved from it's safe drydock meant it was to be used on something, and the only viable target save for the world was the mass relay which allowed his fleets to continue their advance. Harbinger began to panic, a billion-year-old AI began to panic as the possibility of being defeated crept into his analytical mind. 

ALL_ENGAGE_GOD_WEAPON

Every single reaper, carrier, destroyer, and fighter disengaged whatever ship they had been in the middle of the fighting and converged on the fleet surrounding their target. What had been hundreds dying now turned into thousands and reaper ships turned their backs on the other human fleets. Harbinger took no notice, zeroing in on the planet killer as its trek continued across space between spaces. Some got through, a single ship here passed the literal line of steel and tungsten that made up the escort fleet. Getting through these ships inflicted as much damage as possible against the armored hull of the weapon station before being ripped apart by point defense lasers or other escorting ships. 

Harbingers calculating mind began to war game possible scenarios ahead, accounting for just about every variable possible as all manner of outcomes were theorized. A single event out of thousands stood out among the hundreds of win-loss scenarios that he did not know that answer for. In a billion's years of existence and untold cycles, a mass relay had never been destroyed and its effects surveyed. A few had been hit by either meteors or other events, but their destruction had never been surveyed during their destruction. What would happen? IF? IMPOSSIBLE.

THE_CYCLE_CANNOT_BE_BROKEN

The other races of this cycle had banded together in a coalition to counter the human empire. In doing so they had found the citadel on their side of the galaxy and repeated what had been done for billions of years, inside of it the intelligence was screaming, in pain. The deaths of thousands of its kind were no small manner, never in any cycle had such an event happened and in their death throes, they caused the intelligence pain of unimaginable scale. Harbinger felt its pain, its pain of death and sadness at losing trillions being from countless cycles. 

HARBINGER

His mind screamed at hearing its voice, a voice which hadn't felt the need to speak in a thousand cycles. Harbinger's internal systems blared in agony at just feeling its touch for only a couple seconds. Tapped into its unimaginable insight he saw everything it saw and what he found truly terrified him. There were dozens of fleets of hundreds of ships burning their engines out across the entire galaxy with a single goal in mind, to reach the homeworld. A thousand of the vessels held back the tide, a thousand more and he would be on the retreat across the galaxy, hunted to the last. This could not be allowed, the cycle could never be broken by mere mortals, this was to end now. Harbinger moved his bulk to the human-made mass relay and began to converse with the programs inside. What he found was interesting, the indoctrinated fools aboard served him willingly and handled his orders carelessly as they sabotaged all manner of systems and pushed controls far beyond their breaking points. 

He did not know what would happen, how it would happen, or what might happen, all he knew was that this system must be destroyed and if it meant taking himself and others like him with it then so be it. The loss of the human's leadership would lead to an eventual civil war as others vied for control and in doing so making themselves weak enough for his kind to finish what he had started. His sensors noted that 78% of reapers forces in the system were now combat ineffective, their systems destroyed, and bodies shattered. His optical sensors then noted a massive green light approaching from what could only be the battle station as he finished his last command input into the human systems.

Harbinger did not feel physical pain, only a massive hardware loss and a meltdown of systems. His physical body atomized under the massive heat blast meant to kill planets as it passed him and cut the spinning mass of dark energy in half. The spinning ball of energy ignited in waves of power before reaching critical mass and detonating with such power that all matter within six systems ceased to exist in their entirety. The end has begun.

**NOTE**\- was playing Stellaris and enjoyed modding the shit out of it, this then came to mind.


	2. First Contact, again

**Coruscant, Cosanca System, Imperial Calendar date March 20****th****, 2322. Galaxy unknown.**

In the blink of an eye, it was over, the blue wave of raw energy encapsulated everything in its path. Admiral Bankston had closed his eyes just as it hit while muttering his oath to the empire, the images of his daughters filled his mind while he accepted a death that for some reason never came. The entire bridge crew had gone silent, save for the occasional beeping of machinery, all stood still at their stations expecting the same as he had. Looking out across the vastness of space, the only light that showed to his front were the exploding wrecks of the unknown ships alongside lost imperial vessels. 

"Sir, vessels of the home fleet report 100% percent enemy losses in system. Survivors are reporting in that the battle station is highly damaged but still operational alongside half its escorts, I, I think we won sir."

They had won, beaten back this unknown scourge whose remains floated in the home star system of mankind. The valiant ships of the Imperial navy would have been on parade had it not been for the staggering losses they had suffered in the beginning.

"Comms get word from every ship in system and see if our relay buoys are still operational. I want to know if the rest of the fleets are still on their way and when they would arrive."

"Yes, sir." 

Barking orders, the crew quickly went back to the duties and the regular ambient noise of a star destroyer in action-filled its bridge. Bankston looked over his roster at the IFFs still operational, this fight had been bloody for sure but in time these losses would be recoverable, and the navy would build itself anew. The emperor 's will shall be done. 

**Imperial Headquarters. Emperors chambers. March 21****st****, 2322 (Imperial Calendar)**

The room was silent, so silent you could hear a pin drop among the dozens of admirals, generals, and politicians who had received the same answer plaguing their minds. Highlighting itself and spinning at the center of the grand oak table dominating the room, three words hung in defiance to the makers of an empire. 

NO CONNECTIONS FOUND.

A failsafe of any imperial fleet or world was to launch a black box with a built-in comm buoy to alert any imperial ships close enough as to what had happened. Tens of thousands of ships and thousands of worlds, literal trillions of beings across space and save for the six closest none sent a single reply. Had the empire already, Fallen? The Galactic Empire of Man was the single largest and most battle-hardened nation in the history of the galaxy whose crusade across the stars had made it the dominant power within three hundred years. Fleet capable of blotting out the stars, armies of clones which ground worlds to dust and the god killer. 

"Do we have our location?"

Breaking the silence was the voice of the man who had done it all, the man who had built this empire from a few measly worlds to what it had been just yesterday. A map of the galaxy replaced the words, mapped hyper lanes and mass effect relays dotting all over the thousands of systems. The red outline of the empire brought pride to the entire room as they recounted their years of service before going shallow with the possibility of losing it all to something unknown.

"My lord, the position of Coruscant is off. After the events of yesterday none had given the thought to check over our readings but what we have found is, disturbing."

"Explain."

"My Lord, it will be easier to show you. These are the star charts of our capital, and these are what was taken after the event." 

A gasp went throughout the room upon seeing the unbelievable. The galaxy sat changed, its uniformity and known systems gone and in its place, something alien. Many in the room had been in service when the great wars of conquest had begun when man had first met extraterrestrial life and conquered their worlds. The casualties of those first battles had haunted them at first but in time they had become complacent to the millions dying each day. That familiar feeling of looking into the stars and snarling in contempt for those that lived there came back all to easily. 

"Commanders of the empire."

All eyes turned to the fraying old man who sat at the head, his body a ghostly gray and his hair stark white but it was his eyes which captivated them. Many felt Deja Vue at the replaying of events from hundreds of years ago, that fire from the ruler of mankind which had propelled them to the stars had returned and they felt just as young as they had been back then. Three hundred years the galaxy had burned, three hundred years and man had conquered the stars in the name of its species.

"It would seem we are no longer in our galaxy, that is a fact based upon the reading of the imperial science bureau. If we are truly in a new galaxy, one which had never seen man then it is our duty to continue our empire and take the stars for our own. To begin anew is something strange, to start from where we had begun all those years ago but in my old age, I am glad I was able to see just how far we would go. I am an old man, dying as any old man should in the last years of his life, but in this new galaxy I wish to see a home made for our people and if that means we must beat the drums of war then so be it. I the emperor of man call for a crusade of the stars, to further humanity into what it is rightfully owed. May we old men who have commanded the empire for centuries secure the stars for our future generations."

Every person in the room stood up from their seats and faced the emperor. Bracing a fist against their chest they screamed the words which had doomed a galaxy.

"For the Empire!"

**Citadel, Crescent Nebula April 11****th****, 2183 (System Alliance calendar)**

Commander John Shepard could finally sit back and relax in what had felt like years of endless combat. The hunt for Saren was over, he and his ship sovereign destroyed in the battle of the citadel while the galaxy began to realize it had not been just the geth. The reapers, just the thought of the galaxy destroying fleet of ships waiting in dark space sent shivers up his spine. The council had survived due to the system alliance actions who had been awarded a council seat for their actions. Councilor Anderson had quite the ring to is as Shepard looked over toward his mentor and friend as he gave his 1st speech as humanities leader in a troubled galaxy. Sitting beside Shepard where his squad who had fought beside him through thick and thin and seen his victory to the end.

The entire citadel fleet flew by on parade for the entire station to see in a victory lap. With them, the distinctive blue and whites of the system alliance 5th fleet thundered on by to the cheer of the humans in the crowd. Anderson gave up the podium for the Turian councilor to speak, the old Turian thanking the alliance for all it had done of the entire galaxy was a nice change of tone for the usual racist nature of the man. Next came the Asari councilor Tevos, who congratulated everyone involved and thanked Admiral Lindaya of the destiny ascension personally. The Salarian councilor Valern was not here for some reason, what could be more important than showing the galaxy its leaders were still in control? With the speeches over the council gave one last hurrah to the fighter of the citadel fleet and ended the ceremony with the Systems alliance carrier SSV Orizaba thundering overhead. Feeling a nudge from his left Shepard looked to find his team already standing to leave alongside a hundred others.

"Don't want to stay?"

Wrex being the civilly minded krogan he was summed it up for everyone around him

"Got reapers to kill and evil plots to interrupt, can't sit around all day smacking each other's asses."

"Yeah Shepard, cant lose the edge getting fat on the citadel."

"I for one would love to see if these plots involved Prothean Relics."

Smirking Shepard was about to speak when his omni tool chimed with a direct message from the Spectre office.

ALL SPECTRES REPORT TO COUNCIL CHAMBER FOR EMERGENCY MEETING. NOT A DRILL. NOT A DRILL. LEVEL 1 EVENT.

"Son of a bitch, alright everyone get to the ship now I think your calls have been answered." 

Garrus peered at Shepard Omni tool before letting his mandibles go wide in shock. 

"By the spirits, how did they find something else like the rachni?"

**Council Chambers.**

There were dozens here already with more pouring in the door by the minute. Every race had maybe a dozen or more spectres here save for the single human among the crowd, Shepard mulled near the back chomping at the bit to find out what had warranted a level 1 event right after their victory against sovereign. Everyone he had passed had either nodded or expressed their thanks at him for his successful hunt for a rogue among their kind. Saren had been a smudge on the spectre office which had been cleared. A turian approached him, he had red tattoos against a white carapace with the spectre symbol proudly displayed on his left shoulder.

"Shepard, wondering what could of shit on your glory day?"

"Yeah, something like that, who are you?" 

"Varus Kraken, Commander Shepard. I served under Saren before, well you know."

Another one of Saren proteges, how he had so many Shepard didn't know. All he knew was before he had gone insane, he'd made some dam good soldiers.

"So, you heard anything at all?"

The Turian gave a stare, a twinkle entering his avian eyes before responding with bitterness in his tone.

"Word is that a lost human colony has been discovered."

Now that came as a shock, years before the discovery of the wider galaxy humans had been trying to find worlds amongst the stars and finding one now was amazing. A lost colony somehow causing a level 1 event did not sit well. A hush went over the room of assembled soldiers when the council walked into the room and stood behind their pedestals. The mood of only an hour ago had soured completely, all wore confused faces as Valern stepped forward.

"This information is classified beyond top secret under Article 31 of the Council treaty, A level 1 event has occurred within citadel space and warranted an all-out offensive by the combined might of the citadel council. We understand with the casualties taken during the battle of the citadel this will take time, but we cannot doddle. Play the video." 

The lights dimmed and a Holographic vid screened turned on behind the councilors.

ASARI COLONY ADRIX PRIME

HELMET RECORDING FROM SERGEANT MASIR FRANKS

"Get those barriers up! Fuck, Corporal Shivs, Corporal fucking shivs!"

The scene reminded Shepard of Eden prime, the flashbacks nearly the same with an unseen enemy cutting down anyone who filled their gun sights. Everything looked the same until an Asari on-screen took what appeared to be a red bolt to the chest which bypassed her barriers and burned through her chest and armor. The Helmet camera than looked away from the assembled Asari currently hiding behind a downed aircar and showed just who, or really what was cutting them down so efficiently. 

White armor, it looked like a literal sea of white armor was busy blasting away at anything not human. Two eye holes, a mouth looking piece and no visible shields of any kind made up the kit these people wore. Their was no speech heard from these unknown either, must have built-in comms thought Shepard. The firefight itself was based around a courtyard surrounded by apartment blocks, in the center, a dozen aircars either burned or provided cover for the squad of Asari commandos doing their best to hold them at bay.

"This is Maker 6, were being overrun I say again being overrun!"

"Maker 6, all units are being overrun at this time, if you don't have anything else to report stay the fuck off the radio!" 

"Fuck!"

The Asari were losing badly, every couple seconds another would go down with massive burn wounds from the invader's weapons. Overhead there was a scream as some type of fighter craft released a weapon which exploded a street over. The sound caught Shepard's attention, being seasoned in combat he had been under plenty of aerial bombardments and in all his years he had never heard a sound like that. The Asari fought back with all they had, biotics, rifles, grenades, but it wasn't enough as the invaders bounded ahead or suppressed them.

"Shaira, get that revenant on the left and AH!"

Masir was lifted off the ground by an unseen force while her soldiers around her screamed in pain. Purple blood flew across the camera as it began to turn toward whatever had impaled her and Shepard blood went cold. Monsters, black in shape with no seeable eyes stared straight into the Asaris helmet camera. They were all over her squad, smashing her compatriots with talons and teeth, viciously killing anything still alive.

"Please…"

The Asari was pleading for her life as the one holding her by, was that its fucking tail impaling her in the chest!? The creature opened its jaw to his dismay until a second lower jaw jutted out and cut the recording.

The usual murmurs at seeing something like this came out from the crowd of Spectres.

"By the spirits..."

"By the goddess..."

No one spoke until Valern once again changed the screen to an orbital satellite overlooking the doomed Asari world. Someone pressed play and the system came into view with a fleet of Asari vessels orbiting the planet below. Shepard counted six-seven cruisers, a dreadnought, and a dozen or so frigates in what could only of been one of the Asaris main fleets. How these unknowns had managed to get past that much firepower he didn't know until the satellites view shifted and the laws of the galaxy stopped working.

Their had to be hundreds of the grey colored vessels jumping in without the usage of mass effect inspired FTL. There was nothing their one second and in the next a dreadnought as dozens upon dozens of the vessels entered the system. 

"This is the Matriarchs fury of the Asari republics, identify yourself over!"

No response. Not a single word as both fleets began to parry each other's moves. The Satellite zoomed in on the closest dreadnought, the grey exterior was interrupted by a cogwheel type symbol which must have been their nations. Along its body, there were eight main gun batteries with what looked like point defense gun's intermixed. At the end of the ship were massive blue engines sitting below either one of two towers. Two different types of ships with one being larger than the other, maybe two different usages.

The Asari fleet had gotten on the line while the other finished jumping in when the Admiral in charge gave a final warning.

"To the unknown ships entering this system, this is your one and only warning. Turn back now and you will not be fired upon!" 

Seconds turned to minutes as their far larger fleet of dreadnoughts began moving under power for the planet. The VI inside the Satellite estimated time to arrival was five minutes with the rate of speed these ships moved. The Asari admiral was now becoming frantic with the background radio chatter indicating her fleets nervousness at seeing an estimated two hundred dreadnoughts bare down on them.

"Unknown fleet this is the Asari Dreadnought Matriarchs fury! If you do not stop your advance we will be forced to fire a warning shot!"

Nothing. It was maddening to think a flee to that size could not translate what the Asari were trying to convey or just didn't care, as seen before this ended badly for the Asari. Finally, a gravelly and distinctly human voice entered the airwaves, the temperature must have dropped a couple of degrees as Shepard suddenly felt mind-numbingly cold. 

"This is the Imperial Naval Vessel Vengeance, hear this Xeno, your world has now been claimed in the Emperor's name. Your kind will be noted for their defiance but know this, you and your world will burn." 

A light show erupted from over two hundred vessels, blues and green crossed the mass of space and impacted the Aasari ships time and time again until nothing remained. One minute from start to finish, that was how long Shepard had gaged the fight to last. Several thousand Asari now lay dead in space as the fleet began encircling the world and the invasion began. Silence, none dar speak as they watched the fires of war stain the former garden world. Great swaths of fire erupted on inhabited areas. The camera zoomed in on a single ship which had begun orbiting a city and to the room's horror, a light show the same as before had begun. 

"No, they wouldn't, why!"

An Asari had broken down at the front of the room at seeing the orbital bombardment. Each "round" fired from the ship had a visible impact upon its surface as the city burned and what had to be millions died. The recording ended with the last image of a massive shadow beginning to block out the light leading to the planet. It was Tevos now who stepped forward, her eyes still wet with tears, she was on the verge of breaking down but kept her composure in front of so many.

"These beings answered in human English, the possibility of this being a lost human colony finding its own way in the universe has been noted. The council has decreed that due to their brutality, they are to be destroyed and their direct energy weapon technology studied."

Anderson now took the stage, a roster appeared behind him with assets to be used in the coming campaign. Shepard scanned the roster until he saw the only ship he had been looking for. In black bold letters stood SSV NORMANDY.

"Rosters are to be sent out to units requisitioned for this campaign. Leading the charge will be a strike team aboard the SSV Normandy which will insert upon one of these ships and download any data it can before racing out of there. I cannot stress enough just how important any navigation data is as it will be your number one priority."


	3. Boarding

**Adri Prime, Adrix System April 11****th****, 2322 (Imperial Calendar)**

Sergeant CT-1157 or "Drax" had served the Imperium for well over ten years now, born among his brothers he had fought and bled across more than twenty worlds during the emperor's great campaign and this one was no different. A simple species of blue-skinned humanoids alongside a dozen other races never seen before. There were frogs, birds, four-eyed things, and even a big elephant looking one that walked on its hands. For some reason, there were humans as well among them all. So very interesting, and so easy to put in chains and march out of the cities meant for mankind. Like any other campaign, the "resettlement" operations always took the most time with tens of thousands of troopers needed to keep the populace in line while they were forcefully marched from their homes. 

From there, they were to be examined by human personnel who specialized in labor-management and put to work for the betterment of humanity. If they were deemed to be undesirable then, well he didn't know what happened then other than that they tended to disappear. Thousands had already passed the stone-faced line of trooper's hidden by their emotionless helmets. The blue ones either wailed, clinging to what must have been loved ones or stared ahead quietly. The bird beings clung to their defiance, holding their heads high in contempt for their betters. The lizards just stared, as in staring at the troopers around them for some reason with those large black eyes which slightly unnerved him. So many different aliens on this world told him and every other imperial ground side one thing, there were more. 

Several empires at least, dozens of planets ripe for the taking in the emperor's name. The battle here had been short, the shortest he had ever fought for an entire planet. The planetary defense forces seemed more like police than actual soldiers, less than ten thousand had fought back and were eliminated to the man. After their conventional defeat came the Imperial security bureau with its myriad of hackers probing their systems and finding their rosters, after that a simple door to door with anyone within said rosters being rounded up and disposed of. A simple take over where the possibility of an insurgency was suppressed within the first days, leaving the occupying army enough room to deal with the locals and allow human resettlement. It had worked for three hundred years on two thousand worlds; it would work here.

A figure in the crowd caught his attention as well as his squad of troopers. A single human female clung to one of the blue-skinned aliens while wet tears streamed down her face. A younger-looking blue skin walked at their feet as they shuffled alongside hundreds of others crowded onto the highway. Drax had seen this sort of behavior before, a simple-minded human who did not understand the complex manner of human supremacy, lowering oneself to lay with the alien warranted execution in the empire and he would not see such a vile act go unpunished. 

"Squad, V formation into the crowd toward the traitor. Secure and pull out."

His squad of eight troopers all sent clicks in response. His squad, no his brothers had fought beside him since their birth in the clone labs so long ago and did not need to respond with words. Pushing the crowd out of the way they forced the other Xenos in the road to go around them. Drax led the charge as the blue-skinned Xeno noticed the coming troopers and went wide-eyed in fear. The squad surrounded the Xenos pair and the human while Drax marched in front of the woman.

"Traitor, you have committed a capital crime in laying with the alien." 

The blond-haired woman stared into his visor, the blue-skinned xeno mouth agape began to speak in her vile tongue until her human pet spoke.

"I can live anyone I want you racist prick, who are you to say what can and cannot happen."

The woman said with a sneer on her face. The young Xeno hugged her leg while she spoke in the same tongue as the other Xeno who was now pulling the child closer to her.

"You are a disgrace to your race nothing more, your adherence to this citadel is laughable at best in the face of the empire. May you die knowing these thing's you call your loved ones will be nothing more than slaves in the coming empire."

Her eyes went wide at hearing his last words, both Xenos began to scream with the larger one building up biotic power in her hands in bluish waves. Drax's squad took notice and opened fire on the Xeno, red bolts impacted its body as it fell to the ground is a burning mess of blue flesh and purple blood. The human woman watched her mate die before turning back to Drax and attempting to rush the clone trooper, a quick squeeze of his E-11s trigger sent a pair of bolts into her stomach before she got anywhere and sent her to the ground. Somehow, she was still alive, thrashing on the ground while a trooper walked up to her former lover and put two into the things head. Drax fired once and ended the traitors suffering, passerby began to stare while Drax and his squad simply left the bodies in the middle of the road and returned to their post. A pair of the Avians passing by scooped up the child while the troopers carried out their duties.

"For the empire," he muttered. 

**Orbit, Mass Relay exit point**

The Normandy thundered out of the mass relay with a blue haze of mass effect fields. At its helm, Joker had to stop himself from bugging out at the sight of the fleet in system and quickly made the ship go dark. Hopefully, the fleet had only thermal sensors and not something crazy that could detect stealth ships like this one with ease. Hearing the thump, thump of armored boots behind him joker took a wild guess at who could be staring behind him. 

"So, commander, was one superdreadnought not enough?" 

"Can it joker, time on target?"

"Rog commander, TOT is estimated 12 minutes to the identified vessel." 

"Good, send word when were within two minutes."

The commander stepped away while joker flew his craft between giants. Sensors counted one hundred seventy-eight of dreadnought class or higher with two hundred more being cruiser class. There had to be thousands of fighters and even a few frigates intermixed with it all, either pouring out of ships inbound for the planet or conducting combat air patrols throughout the system. A pair passed within a dozen klicks sending jokers' stomach sideways but passed on without notice. The ship designated by the citadel was of the same dreadnought class, a single conning tower dominated by massive guns at its base. It wasn't the biggest he had seen but with energy weapons, it didn't matter the size.10 minutes later the target was within 10,000 KMs and its massive size was taking up his screen more and more. 

"Commander two minutes out to target."

"Thanks joker."

Shepard had gone over the mission given to him by the council again and again without finding a flaw he could fix himself. Two teams would insert on different points on the ship, find entry and attempt to find any navigational data available before retreating from the vessel. If the opportunity arose where they were able to disable or destroy the ship in question then they would do so. A team of spectres, made up of only the best on hand had been dispatched beside his elite team for the coming fight. Four Turians, three Asari, and a dozen Salarians made up the second team with the turian he had met at the briefing being its leader. All bore the Spectre symbol on their left shoulder, proudly stating themselves to be members of the citadel elite. In contrast, his team either wore over the counter armor or issued suits from their respective nations. Their heavily used gear covered in cracks and wearing paint told the story of their fight throughout he stars against the traitor Saren.

Shepard approached the stoic turian in the middle of his pre-combat checks. He noted the entirely Turian arsenal save for a single Krogan shotgun on his back.

"Varus, were two minutes out how is your team?"

Varus stood up from the crate he had been sitting on and looked over his assembled Spectres. The turians while outwardly showing indifference to the situation seemed overly tense. The Asari were in the middle of praying while the Salarians went over pictures and data pads concerning the fleet around them.

"They've fought in plenty of battles against pirates and other un-desirables but were facing an actual army now. A fleet that outnumbers the entire turian navy in tonnage, I know I'm a horrible turian for saying this, but I do not think the council understands what it is doing."

Now that was a surprise coming from the formerly stoic stick up the ass turian Shepard had found in the councils meeting. A protégé of Saren, admitting the council's nativity on the situation, interesting.

"You don't think the combined might of the citadel navy will be able to deal with this?"

Varus sighed again before looking into Shepard's eyes. 

"I don't know, my team will be prepared Commander."

Sensing the end of the conversation Shepard left to go to his team on the other side of the hanger.

**Starboard loading bay, INV Adjudicator **

CT-1157A patrolled the same route he had for the last five years aboard the Victory-class star destroyer. Five years of constant fleet movement through systems full of humanities enemies. Twice, the Xenos had attempted to board his vessel and him alongside a thousand other clone troopers had fought them off until the decks ran thick with their blood. He had lost many brothers in both of those actions be they troopers or naval crewman and today's patrol would be sure it would never happen again. 

Five hundred thirty-two footsteps made up the patrol he completed three times a day. From bow to stern he would not fail in his duty of protecting those that made a star destroyer fight in the vastness of space effectively. Memories of days long past filled his mind as he passed areas of note, most striking back to the days the dastardly Xenos had dared step foot aboard an imperial star destroyer. They were four-eyed alien species coming from a smaller empire at the Southern end of the galaxy, beaten back to their homeworld their last plan of attack had been to capture a fleet of star destroyers and turn them on their creators. Captain CT-2396 had sent him and his squad here to stop them alongside a weapon he wished to never see again. When he had first seen the black-armored hide of the things, he had almost opened fire and he would if it hadn't been for a squad of brothers wearing black armor surrounding the beast. 

The symbol on their left breast had identified them as part of the imperial biological weapons and research division, a secretive legion within the imperial clone trooper corps, they walked alongside the ten-foot-tall beast with not a care in the world. After that, his squad had been sent to its sector and the battle for his ship had begun. The Xenos had boarded in the hundreds, their numbers filling the halls and decks of his ship as the cut through the security contingent with biotic powers and mass effect weapons. His squad was cut down from nine to five, then two. He and his brother, CT-1158A held the line against the boarders as a last stand. The bodies before them numbered in the dozens as he blasted away with his E-11.

"Hold the line brother! For the empire!"

His fuel cell clicked dry, grabbing for another he looked down at his belt to find no replacement and quickly resigned himself to his fate. To fight and die for the empire was the fate of any clone, to live in the emperor's name and expand his will upon this merciless galaxy. Looking up from his barricade he saw the dozens of Xenos coming at him with weapon's held at the hip as they fired on full auto. The high-velocity rounds cracked past his helmet, getting closer and closer while his brother fired his last rounds before his fuel cell too went dry. 

Laying a hand on the brother he had been born beside, he reassured him with a quick squeeze to the shoulder. To die for the empire was his birthright, to destroy the Xeno wherever found his duty, and to fight to his last breath his destiny. The first of the Xenos crossed his barrier of plaste-steel just as the lights cut out on this deck. His helmets built-in Night vision device instantly adjusted his vison to his surroundings. His weapon may have been out of rounds, but his fist and combat blade would show these aliens his fury. There were dozens and they were two, but they were clone, bred to be the finest warriors in the galaxy and they would not fail. His fist connected with the first alien over who by now was getting to his feet after falling over the barricade in the darkness. Striking the alien in its face he threw it to the ground and traced his blade along its neck. A warm sensation could be felt through his fingers as he went to the next, and the next, and the next, his body unrelenting in its resolve to kill the alien. One finally got the idea to fire its weapon into the screaming mess of blades and fist. The alien held the trigger down and used his muzzle flash to walk his rounds into the two troopers, firing until his heatsink popped and their white armor was now red. 

Gasping for breath he looked to his HUD and saw his brother's life signs falling rapidly, the bars denoting his death with not a sound passing to mark the end of his life. Grasping his hand out he tried to grab for his brother. His ears didn't register a sound around him until an inhuman clacking came from the bulkheads above him. The Xenos in their fury to loot his brother's bodies for their weapons did not notice but he could recall that sound till the day he died. Talons rapped against steel, a slithering of bodies, a slight hiss here or there. 

The ceiling gave out with its thin metal plates crashing to the floor. Beings of cruelty and pain followed with talons, teeth, and claws, ripping the now screaming Xenos to pieces. He closed his eyes, unwilling to watch the horrors as they ripped flesh from bone, he had grabbed his brothers' hand in this mess and felt the last tugs of life left as his grip faded. After two minutes of flesh tearing and bodies being ripped in half, it was over. The black creatures began to move about the dead, taking a chunk here and there with an inner jaw. One walked over to him and bent its massive frame over until its face dripped spittle onto the visor of his helmet. Its bloody talons raked across his chest plate before they gripped both of his arms and hauled him bodily over its shoulder. 

"No, No, No, please, my brother please creature."

The creature, of course, didn't respond. He had blacked out after that, no recollection of where the creature had taken him until he woke up in the ship's medical unit to a clone standing over him. That had been three years ago near the end of the great war when he had lost every brother he had grown up with. Never again would he fail in defending those around him, never again would he allow an enemy to strike his brothers. 

"Trooper CT-1157A, investigate storage bay 27A. Reading reports unusual life signs." 

"Yes, sir, moving to 27A." 

He charged his E-11, patted the extra energy cells on his waist and mumbled to himself.

"Never again."

**Storage bay 27A**

The spacewalk over hadn't been the worst he had ever done, Not the best but nothing he hadn't trained for years ago at N7 school. The area they'd breached on this ship had been an airlock meant for a supply ship to lock onto the hull and directly transfer supplies into the storage area he and the rest of his team now sat in. The room was filled from floor to ceiling with different sized gray crates which all bore the same wheel-shaped symbol he had seen on the vessel's exterior. 

"Alright, we'll need to make our way to one of those towers if were going to find the data. Varus, any trouble on your end yet?"

"Negative looks to be the same type of room as yourself. Will report if we find anything over." 

"The turian reminds me too much of Saren."

Wrex always the mouthful.

"Alright, people let's make our way to the other side of this place and find a way out of here. Break into pairs and report if you find anything, Tali your with me."

The team broke off and began their search. Tali took up beside Shepard while they traversed the supply room, gingerly carrying her usual shotgun ready to fight anything.

"So commander, I heard your conversation with Varus and I'm not very convinced the turians or the citadel know what they're doing." 

"You heard that? Yeah, he didn't have the same holier than though attitude he had at the meeting, to be honest, I kinda relate seeing everything here."

"Are we sure their even human? I mean I know the video had the man's voice and all, but it could have been a translator fault or something and the idea of a lost colony having this much firepower is astounding."

"A lot of ships went into the darkness of space and never returned, it's not crazy to think one of them made it out for themselves but I can agree, this is beyond anything I could of ever of thought of, and does this room ever fucking end?"

There were hundreds of crates all reaching the ceiling everywhere like a shitty corn maze.

"Anyone found a way out yet?"

"Nah boss, myself and wrex are as lost as you."

"Liara and I are in the same boat."

"Fuck."

A sudden hiss filled the room of what could only be a door opening somewhere to his left.

"Teams converge on that sound, non-lethal if we can take a prisoner do so."

Converging on the sound Shepard caught sight of a figure moving ahead of him. A blur of white armor, black eye and mouth visor, carbine sized weapon in its hands. 

"Tali prep a shock, I want him alive."

"Ok Shepard."

Footstep were closing from around the corner, a steady thumping of boots on steel. Shepard braced himself on a crate at the corner, breaking down his weapon he readied a shock charge of his own for the soldier. Shepard saw a flash of black metal and thrust his hand down on the weapon, pushing its barrel down. An untrained individual would have fought their attacker to bring the weapon back up and possibly allowed said attacker to then manhandle them. However, this guy knew what he was doing. Dropping the weapon, the white armored soldier pulled a wicked-looking blade and slashed at Shepard, glancing a blow off his gauntlet Shepard witnessed the knife leave a massive cut in his armored wrist. Not wanting to see what it could do to the flesh he let loose with his stun charge and waited for the guy to go down in an electrically charged shock. 

Except he didn't, if anything it just pissed him off as the solider rushed him with the knife again and went for a killing blow at his neck. Shepard blocked the blow with his other gauntlet this time and earned another deep cut to his armor, blocking the guy's knife he allowed tali a clear shot at the solider.

"Now tali!"

Her omni-tool sent the shock charge at the solider with the same effect as before. Pulling his knife out of Shepard's wrist he began to back up and take a fighting stance. Shepard noticed he hadn't heard a single word out of this being and wondered if there was really flesh under their. Pulling his weapon out he pointed the M8 Avenger at the soldier's chest.

"Put the knife down and your hands on your head now!"

"Shepard were closing fast, what's the problem?"

"Wait one wrex, alright put the weapon down or were sending another shock charge."

He was backing up to his weapon on the floor, with every step closer to the DEW.

"Were behind him Shepard, keep his attention."

"Alright, listen buddy were not going to hurt you we just need you to put the weapon down and come with us."

"Within ten now, keep his attention."

"Listen buddy, im sure you want to go home today so lets just all play nice and-"

The thumping of heavy footsteps reverberated from around the corner, climaxing with a krogan slamming himself into the trooper. Shepard expected the man to just falter right then and there but in retrospect, he really should have expected more. The soldier turned immediately, twisting his body mid-air and slamming the blade into wrex's head plate until wrex landed on him into a wall of crates. While wrex pulled himself off the trooper expecting an easily disabled human the trooper followed up with a slash at his throat. Orange blood flew in the air as a gash appeared in Wrex"s face. Seeing his folly Wrex grabbed both of the human's hands before slamming his head plate into his helmet and feeling the body go limp.

"Varus to Shepard, come in Shepard!"

"Varkus send it."

"We've been made, couple dozen white armored soldiers pouring in, were attempting to extract now!"

Over the turians voice, Shepard heard what could only be Lasor fire interrupted by the cracks of mass effect weapons.  
"Alright get the fuck out of there." 

A door opened at the other end of the room this time and instead of one, dozens of feet impacted the floor. No voices, no words, just the sounds of an army fast approaching. 

"Fuck, guess who that could be. Alright were pulling out the same way we came in, wrex is your suit still good to seal?"

"Yeah Shepard, fucker got me good but ill be GTG."

"Alright lets fucking move then!"

While Wrex lifted the downed man, Shepard scooped up his rifle. Looking it over it did not look all that fancy, more akin to an old weapon of earth, it was heavy compared to ME rifles. Liaras voice interrupted his inspection.

"Shepard were being tailed back to you, maybe eight or nine all armored like those in the video!"

"Bound back to us, we need to leave and not get caught up here."

"Yes Shepard, Ashley were- No Ashley!"

An explosion thundered across the supply room followed by what could only be a female scream.

"Liara! Ashley! Respond now!"

Liara coughing came back on the radio.

"Shepard, oh goddess, Ashley's hurt bad and its all smoke. By the goddess half, her face is gone but she's trying to speak. Ashley it's me Liara, just don't say anything we'll be out of here soon ok."

"Boss we've gotta get to them now!"

"Alright Garrus and I head over to their positions, wrex and tali exfil as fast as possible."

"Alright, Shepard." 

"yes Shepard."

Grabbing Garrus Shepard began to sprint through the maze again while a firefight erupted to his front.

"Liaras what's going on now!"  
"They tried to advance but I chucked a grenade, holding them off right now with a burst of SMG fire, please get here soon!" 

"Just hold!"

Shepard turned a corner and found a warzone enclosed within ten meters of crated walls. Ashley was pulled behind a downed crate on her side while her face leaked blood, Liara was crouched behind the same crate while she suppressed whoever was down the hall. Garrus and Shepard both landed on either side of her, adding their fire to the mix until no red bolts fired their way. Not seeing anything, not even blood a pit began to grow in Shepard's stomach.

"Garrus grab ash, we are leaving here now. Varus what's your situation?"

"We've taken casualties but they're pulling off for some reason, what the? The lights just went out, where switching to night vision. What was that? Their's some kind of scratching in the ceiling, elissa did you-"

Varus was interrupted by crashing while leaving the channel open. Hissing and large bodily impacts came through the mic until the turians voice returned to the radio.

"What the fuck! Shoot them, shoot those fucking things by the spirits save us!"

"Varus what is it!"

"It's the fucking monsters, the fucking monsters are here spirits save-!"

The transmission ended with a scream. Realizing just what monster he spoke of Shepard pulled Liara and garrus to their feet and pushed them toward the exit.

"Get the fuck out, get the fuck out right now! Run!"

He ran, the savior of the citadel, lion of Elysium, butcher of torfon, and survivor of Akuze ran for his life from something that sent a primal sense of fear deep down his spine. Garrus lugged Ashley who was now leaking blood all over the floor, Liara sprinted as fast as her legs would lead her, and he ran with all his might in thirty pounds of armor. His helmet audio receptors picked it up first, a slight scratching in the ceiling above them but he didn't look back, he didn't look back when something pulled a ceiling tile away and dropped down. He didn't dare look down a passing alleyway at a tall black being approaching. He didn't dare look back when he heard the hissing and something on all fours giving chase. He was the last in line and had just passed the last walkway before the airlock when a black, carapace covered thing of claws pulled liara away.

Shepard went full stop and took in this thing up close, ten or so feet tall, long elongated head, everything ending in claws or teeth. He might of, no he did just piss himself. Liara was in one of its hands, it looked to be examining the screaming asari before looking over to Shepard standing there. No eyes, no face, just teeth. Garrus noticing the absence of people looked behind him and saw Liara held to the sky and Shepard staring dumbstruck.

"Shepard shoot the fucking thing!"

Feeling the heavyweight in his arms Shepard remembered he was still carrying the guy's Laser weapon. Pulling it up he put his finger in the trigger and hoped for the best. He squeezed the trigger and let it fly. It must have been on auto as it let off five rounds into the creature with little to no recoil. Five laser bolts made the creature sequel in pain with its "head" and body bearing the brunt of the impacts. Green blood flew from its body onto liara which didn't seem like a problem until the Asari's screams reached a fever pitch and her skin began to burn off. The creature dropped liara and crouched ready to pounce on Shepard when he fired another burst into its head ending its life. Its body began to ooze blood onto the floor which for some reason could withstand it's acid. Scanning the near area, he found no more of the things and moved to liara who was now a moaning mess of burned flesh.

"Liara stay with me, stay with me Liara you're going to be ok, just stay with me." 

Picking between the now very hot weapon and liara, Shepard dropped the carbine and picked up the smoldering Asari scientist. Regrouping with garrus the duo found Wrex and Tali waiting eagerly in the airlock. More thunderous scratching reverberated behind them as Shepard ran through the doors.

"get the fuck out!"

**SSV Normandy, Comms room.**

"And these thing's, their blood was acid."

"Yes councilor, the creature's blood caused chemical burns over 43% of Liara T'sonis body."

"By the spirits, this can not be natural these things had to of been manufactured."

Shepard was angry, angry and ashamed at just how bad of a beating the elite of the galaxy had just received when they hadn't even left the infil point.

"And in your report, you state you had to drop one of the laser rifles to carry this scientist commander?"

"Yes councilor, with how badly she was burned I could not safely carry her to the exit with a single hand."

"A shame, that technology could have helped the citadel. Your reports also state's a 100% casualty rate for Spectre Varus and his team as well, is there anything else you wish to inform the council of?" 

"No councilor's, nothing more to report at this time."

"Then your orders of recon and report stand commander, good day."

Seeing the council sign off made Shepard even more angry at everything that had happened in the last three hours. Two of the people he had fought tooth and nail with the capture Saren were now in the med bay undergoing emergency surgery. An entire team of spectres was dead on an alien vessel and all he had to show for it was that fucking soldier currently tied up in the shuttle bay. He'd come back to the land of the living if Garrus was right less than five minutes ago and Shepard was going to make sure he scrounged up any information the bastard had. Leaving the comm room no sailor dared speak to him, the commander was on a warpath and every crewmember aboard knew it. The elevator dropped to the shuttle bay and it's door opened to the person the spectre did want to speak too.

The white armored fucker was tied down to a camping chair pulled out from somewhere. His legs and arms bound, he was going nowhere while he stared right back at the commander. Shepard was still in his armor, Liaras purple blood still staining most of the front when he walked up to both Garrus and tali.

"Has he said a word?"  
"No commander, mister white and silent hasn't even made a peep."

Shepard eyed the suit up close, white armored plates covered most of his body with a belt which most likely held ammunition.

"Get that helmet off him, I want to see this fuck squirm."

Garrus and tali looked to each other, worried about their commander's mindset when garrus grabbed the human's shoulder and tali went to work on the helmet.

"Now where would be ah, press this and there we go." 

He didn't look very, evil. A regular human face of pacific islander heritage with a set of scars on his left cheek. On his temple were the numbers CT-1157A edged in black ink and on the opposite side of his head an inscription. FOR THE EMPIRE.

"He doesn't look very, I don't know dangerous?"

"Tali, didn't you say he was able to fight off Shepard if he's able to do that he's dangerous enough." 

Shepard squatted down to eye level with the man and stared into his eyes, the brown orbs were devoid of any light, Shepard looked into something that didn't even seem human.

"I am commander Shepard of the System alliance navy and the citadel council. Your people have invaded a sovereign Asari world and committed untold war crimes on its surface, I want to know why." 

The last words were a sneer, but he saw a type of understanding in the man's face. He would do anything in his power to learn anything about these monsters, no matter the consequences. 

**Rannoch, Perseus Veil**

GETH_ONLINE

1,344,234,257,235_UNITS RESPONDING

PRIOIRTY_DIRECTIVE

DEFEND_THE_MAKERS


	4. interrogations

**Unknown Xenos vessel, Unknown date and time.**

Captured, he had been captured by traitors and the alien aboard a vessel of the grand imperial navy. He had failed, he had failed himself, his brothers, and the empire. This shame he felt was, unbelievable. How long he had been here in this ship was unknown, it seemed he had ended up inside a dropship bay with a small brock shaped craft near the edge of his vision. Two Xenos flanked him on either side, one being of the avian type and the other some pale copy of the human form. She as he guessed it was a she by the bust and larger hips looked human until he got to the hands and feet where his face rose in disgust. Under his helmet, he could keep all his facial expressions to himself, where he could talk to his brothers and hear their voices without the normal humans hearing. Their helmets were their safe space in a galaxy of constant war and conquest, and now he had lost them. 

His radio was shot, most likely broken when that massive lizard Xeno had slammed into him, knocking him unconscious. His weapon was nowhere to be found, most likely lost in whatever escape these idiots had managed. Even his blade was gone from its sheath, its familiar rubber grip lost due to the same alien as before. Dozens of questions plagued his mind as to just how this ilk had managed to successfully board a star destroyer of the imperial navy and get out alive, where dozens had tried and failed, they had somehow succeeded, how? The cargo shaft to his front opened and the same black armor of before met his eyes, a red and white stripe dominated the right arm and next to it was the designation N7. This universe's type of trooper designation? No matter, the now unhelmeted figure revealed itself to be a human, the same which had assaulted him successfully aboard the star destroyer but was now covered in purple blood from head to toe.

CT-1157A zoned out at recognizing his fate. The Xenos around him conversed with the human in a language he did not understand, he did not care. He was to be tortured and broken, forgotten and thrown away like trash for he was nothing but a regular clone trooper, he didn't cry externally but inside, he shed a tear. Three-fingered hands grasped his shoulder's while another wove their way around his neck, was this how he was to go out, choked to death by the alien? They found his depressurization switch and the reality of what they were doing hit him, no, no, no they couldn't. His helmet began to be pulled over his head and internally he screamed, to be pulled out from the safety of his helmet was, unthinkable.

With his head now in the open air he felt the coolness of the shuttle bay as the air touched his skin. His eyes adjusted to the light while he put on a face of nothing, he would give them nothing, he would not endanger his brothers and the empire. If he was to die here then he would do it willing for he was clone, unbreakable. The traitor squatted down before him, staring into his eyes. He could tell he was looking for something but here he would find none, only the cold indifference any trooper of the imperial clone trooper corps would give a traitor such as this.

"I am commander Shepard of the System alliance navy and the citadel council. Your people have invaded a sovereign Asari world and committed untold war crimes on its surface, I want to know why."

Systems alliance? Asari, must be the blue-skinned Xenos. War crimes, laughable. What had been done to this world had been done two thousand times before, nothing more than the emperors will be carried out by the forces of the great empire. The Xenos began to converse again while this Commander Shepard listened. Both formed up alongside the commander while they conversed, the female took a step forward and waved its hand in his face for reasons he did not know.

"Can you understand them?"

Should he answer? He was already shamed at being captured by these scums, somehow it didn't seem all that bad to answer simple questions and hopefully gain insight as to the whereabouts of this Citadel council for the imperial security bureau. 

"No."

Hearing his voice spoken without his helmet was, odd. The female still carried his helmet in her hands and had begun fiddling with its internals to which he did not approve. That was his home and she was defiling it with her disgusting claws.

"Get your hands away from my helmet Xenos scum, you will not defile it in front of me and survive."

That got her attention as she stopped what she was doing immediately, so she understood what he was saying but he could not understand her, interesting.

"Have something against aliens, do we? In the radio message played to the Asari fleet guarding Adrix Prime, a voice spoke of a human empire. Care to tell me what exactly that is?"

Shit.

"Don't let the cat hold your tongue now, it's obvious you can speak and if it makes you more conformable, I can have my friends here leave and it can be just you and me." 

What. Why would this traitor care if he was comfortable, what the fuck was going on.

"They may stay as they listen as to how they will bow, the heavens will shake, and they will be shackled for they are nothing more than tools for the empire. Slaves to be worked until they are no longer useful in the emperor's dream and when they are no longer useful, exterminated like the vermin they are." 

Both aliens looked to be taken back by his words as they entered their differencing stances of disgust he presumed. The human took on an angered look, lips curling and nose slightly rising on his face as he reared back and struck him across his face. The armored gauntlet connected with 1157As nose and a slight cracking came from the now wrecked cartilage. Now this is what he expected from the traitorous scum. This commander Shepard grabbed him by his shoulders before repeatedly punching 1157A across the jaw and face, throwing splashes of blood everywhere while he yelled into his face. 

"Your stupid fucking empire is the reason two of my friends are going surgery where they could fucking die, now you xenophobic piece of shit! You are going to tell me what I want to fucking know! Starting with your fucking name!" 

Through cracked teeth, 1157A spat out a goblet of blood onto the commander's armor before giving a now bloody and wicked smile. 

"Your all going to burn, the empire will come for you and everything you hold dear and in your last moments, the last thing any of your kind will see is my brothers stomping everything you know out of existence. For the empire, commander."

Shepard almost went berserk before both of his pet Xenos pulled him back, shoving him against a wall the avian one began screaming into a glowing device on his arm as the commander frothed at the mouth. It took a couple of minutes of constant speech coming from both Xenos but the commander had come down from his mad fury, meanwhile, a certain large Xeno exited the elevator and scanned the shuttle bay. He spoke in a croaking language but the other two seemed to of gotten the message and exited with the commander in tow to the elevator. When the door closed the large lizard looked to 1157A and pulled a chair across from him. 1157 didn't believe it could hold the large lizard's weight but somehow it only creaked when he sat down. In perfect basic, the alien spoke. 

"So, what's your name warrior?"

**INV Disillusion, April 12****th**** 2332(Imperial Calendar)**

"Subject Varus Kraken, Turian Hierarchy and Citadel council agent, captured aboard Victory-class star destroyer 11th of April 2332."

The white-uniformed clone picked through the datapad before coming to a section highlighted by the interrogator before him. 

"Your hand-held device had gathered the interest of your betters, explain its qualities now or we will continue." 

Varus, held up by his arms above his head in chains spat out another goblet of blue blood. He was stripped naked of anything and covered in pain everywhere. The humans, no these imperials were devoid of any emotion as they tortured him for an untold number of hours. Anything he could think of paled in comparison to what they had done to him, cracking his plates, cutting off his mandibles, forced drowning, these things as they were no longer living beings in his eyes did not care for him or his wellbeing. Every law he could think of in citadel space had been broken as they worked him for information about the wider galaxy. How these things hadn't heard of it all was mind-boggling, the citadel, the council, every race in general save for themselves, all of it had to be either hacked from his Omni tool of relayed through him.

He hadn't seen the others since his capture, after those beasts had ambushed his team, he had attempted to fire on one before a white armored soldier shot some type of blue beam at him. Blacking out he hadn't woken up until a figure in a white uniform shocked him awake with a prod. No sleep, no food, no water, he was most likely going to die here in this small gray room with no windows and his only company being a uniformed intelligence officer. It was odd how the man wasn't nearly as tired as himself, having been here for over thirty hours he would have expected him to tire out but somehow, he just kept going.

"The device you speak of is called an Omni tool, a portable computer the size of a bracelet which can be used to do a myriad of tasks for the user. Every being in citadel space owns one of these for doing daily task's but for military applications it allows the user to use different attacks." 

"Interesting, now back to the citadel council you work for. You spoke of the treaty of farixen and its limiting factors it imposes upon members of the galaxy. This idea of a human nation surrendering itself to an alien empire is concerning, what do you know of the systems alliance?"

At this point, he was beyond being amazed at how much this race of technologically superior beings did not know.

"The alliance is the face of humanity to the wider galaxy, a democratic nation with a prime minister and a senate, the systems alliance was recently admitted to the citadel council just days ago after the battle of the citadel."

"Now that brings up a very interesting point, does this look familiar?"

The officer put a datapad in front of his face showing a very familiar bug-like ship design. Except it wasn't at the citadel and was somehow surrounded by hundreds of other vessels of the same make. 

"Yes, that's the geth dreadnought which attacked the citadel, how did you-?"

"Irrelevant, that will be all for today. I will send for a pair of troopers to escort you to your cell." 

There had been one, a single ship which had held of the citadel defense fleet, how did he have a picture of what looked like hundreds of the same vessel in the middle of combat? The officer passed a pair of white troopers just as they opened the door. One pressed a button on his armor which disengaged the chain's above his head and dropped him to the floor. Picking him up off the floor they began to drag him out of his cell and into a drab gray hallway. Everything looked the same to him as they traversed whatever ship they were on, the same gray walls and simple light here and their. The duo dragged him for around five minutes if his internal clokc was right until they stopped in front of a door that opened to a black hallway. Here two more troopers passed beside him with a signature purple blood on their hands. His team was here as well then unless someone else bore the same purple blood as an Asari. Another fifteen steps and his escort stopped; one began to input a code into the door which opened. Before he could take in his new home he was mercilessly thrown in, on the way down he heard the door shut again.

Blackwatch, Spectre, prisoner, all titles he had earned in his life. Attempting to stand up off the floor he began to grate his teeth in pain until two pairs of blue hands began to help him up and recognition entered his eyes. His wounds paled in comparison to the cruelty committed upon two Asari he recognized from his team. Cuts crisscrossed their once beautiful faces, their bodies bore deep purple bruising all over, and the light which came with any asaris eyes had gone pale.

"Spectre Varus, welcome back to the land of the living, care to stay alive a little longer?"

I

**NV Conquest of Bain, April 12****th****, 2332 (Imperial Calendar) **

"Admiral, we have found the Xenos vessel hiding in the dark side of the moon, orders?"

"I am preparing a special unit for boarding action, continue to observe and report."

"Yes, Admiral." 


	5. Attack

**Unknown ship, Unknown date and time**

"What is it you need of me Xeno, you have already shamed myself in front of my brothers, what more could you take from me."

"Your name pup, you smell too young for what I see, how old are you?"

Should he tell this foul creature his name, should he shame himself more than he already had? His brothers would understand hopefully, in doing so he could garner some knowledge about their future subjects and maybe save brothers with the intel he could gain. He would tell them his name and nothing more, he was a soldier of the empire and he would not fail, not falter, not cede defeat.

"I am CT-1157A"

"That's your name?"

"Yes."

"That's a designation, I asked for your name."

"That is my name Xeno, you asked for it and I gave it to you."

What did this creature not understand, he was a clone trooper in the imperial stormtrooper corps, a warrior in the emperor's army which had taken the stars. To this creature, he should be feared, to humanity welcomed. By the reports he had seen before his capture, it was the opposite. The humans in this galaxy were afraid of his kind, afraid of what they had brought upon that world with fire and sword. It was no matter, for they were all traitors to the empire and would be purged like any other Xenos filth.

"What does the CT stand for in your name then?"

Stupid fucking….

"Clone trooper of the imperial stormtrooper corps." 

The alien pondered his statement for a moment, deep in thought somehow. What the alien pondered he couldn't imagine, perhaps it realized its destiny was already written and was beginning to accept its future servitude? It looked like it could do well in heavy lifting or maybe the mining sector, no matter, when the time came it would work. 

"You're a clone in an army of clones then, hmm. Not the weirdest thing I've seen today but I can accept that. What of your empire then, for it to have so many ships it must have shipyards, planets, natural resources capable of supporting such a fleet?"

"If you think I will tell you the location of our worlds then you are mistaken, I will never turn my back on the empire."

"Tell me of these brothers you speak so much about then, I'm sure they wish to see you again. These are your fellow clones as well then." 

His brothers, most had died years ago in the campaigns. Now all he had were other squads in his batch and replacements straight from the clone labs, shiney's. He was the only survivor, CT-1157A Imperial stormtrooper. 

"My brothers, my batch brothers died three years ago in a campaign near the edge of imperial space. I am all that is left from my batch, but others share my face, still brothers but not the ones I grew up with." 

"I am sorry to hear that pup, you said three years ago you lost your brothers, how old are you?"

"By the imperial standard of three hundred and sixty days a year, I am five years old."

"A child, a child in a man's body sent to fight in a war he does not understand, I pity you."

"A war I do not understand, I am a warrior of humanity sent forth across the stars to fight for its empire against Xenos just like you! I have fought and bled beside warriors far greater than you and I will not be belittled by the alien!"

"Alright than kid, ill leave you to wallow down here. I'll send for the doc but she might be busy so, eh." 

The alien put his chair away and entered the elevator, Leaving CT-1157A with only his thoughts as he scanned the shuttle bay.

**SSV Normandy, Engineering overlooking shuttle bay.**

"By the spirits a child, a literal child in a man's body. How he grew so quickly I have no idea."

"Garrus, didn't the Hierarchy think about cloning soldiers back in the day?"

"It was thought of yes but never enacted due to citadel regulations, to see this, it breaks so many laws that you couldn't even count them."

Shepard, Tali, and Garrus all stared at the clone below them, through the darkened glass he couldn't see them.

"he's just sitting there staring straight ahead like he's resigned himself to his fate." 

"Tali have you gotten anything from his helmet yet?"

Tali had been tinkering with the white helmet ever since they had left the shuttle bay. With tools and pliers, she had scanned every piece of technology inside the helmet twice. 

"Nothing really radical with it other than its armor qualities being superior to standard military armor. More ballistic and heat protection along with the same sealing qualities of any alliance armor, built-in NVGs, Thermals, it's got a lot in it that the alliance doesn't field its regular troops with." 

"Nothing crazy, I wonder how Liara and Ash are doing."

"They'll be ok Shepard, I'm sure of it, Dr. Chakwas is a pro."

Shepard stared with more unease now, to see just how far this empire was willing to go was disgusting. The thought of killing children on the battlefield even more so, he had fought child soldiers before and it had taken a couple of years after torfon to get his head straight. Shepard left his friends for the elevator, stopping inside he considered going back to his quarters, slamming the shuttle bay button he knew what he was going to do. He had to confront it head-on and learn everything he could, whatever it took, it didn't matter if he was just a child, there were people down there who could live if the council learned anything about this enemy. 

"Garrus, Tali, leave the observation window and don't come back, that's an order." 

"Um Ok boss."

"Yes, Shepard."

Thirty seconds later and after only going a floor, the elevator opened to the clone trooper once more. Shepard calmly walked in front of the soldier before him and thought about what he was about to do. 

"People could die because I did not get the information from your head. As a citadel spectre I am authorized to do everything in my power to safeguard the people of the citadel council. I'm sure you understand." 

All he got in return was a bloody smile from the clone before he spit another goblet of blood onto the commander's armor.

"For the Empire, Traitor."

**3 Hours later.**

Till the day he died he would remember this day, calmly walking out of the elevator Shepard noticed the immediate stares of the crewman but he did not care. Without a thought he entered his private quarters, waiting for the door to close fully before ripping off his armor and throwing it around the room. He screamed, he cried, he begged for forgiveness from every god in existence for the acts he had just committed upon a fellow sapient being. Finishing getting undressed to only his bodysuit he crashed into his chair with his head in his hands. They didn't teach you torture at N7 school, they taught you how to survive it, yes but they did not teach it and now he knew why.

It was disturbing, vile acts of violence that hurt both parties involved on different levels. Dr. Chakwas upon seeing what he had done had gone cold, robotic in how she spoke while she attempted to clean up the mess he had created. In the end, it didn't matter what scant intel he had gotten from the poor clone; he was only a soldier in an army of billions just like him. What he knew was most likely public knowledge in the imperial army, nothing more. What he got after three hours couldn't even fit on a whole sheet of paper, the clone had held out until the end there. 1157A, a name screamed into his ears as he attempted to pull any information he could, the clone had relied on just screaming his name rather than divulge any information. In the end, it did not matter, when the pain became too intense small bits of intel came out and Shepard wrote every word of it down. 

Thank god Garrus and tali hadn't watched, neither would still be on this ship If they had. He knew wrex would understand, being the Krogan warlord and all. After a quick shower to get all the blood off. He would move on to the comm room and relay everything he found to the council who could hopefully better prepare the citadel fleets who were staging outside of the system's relay.

"Commander, its joker I'm having some odd fluctuations with my sensors up here."

"What kind of fluctuations joker?"

"Well their reading a frigate sized ship directly to our left but I'm not seeing anything, it's saying its less than fifty meters away. Might just be a malfunction but I wanted to tell you."

"Recalibrate the sensors and get back to me."  
"Roger that commander."

Hopefully, this would be the end of it all. 

**INV Observer, April 14****th****, 2332.**

"Troopers, the mission you will conduct today is of utmost importance to the empire. Today, you will be the first to step foot upon an alien vessel in this galaxy and quell the Xeno before it strikes. Word has it this ship was part of the raid conducted on an imperial star destroyer in the system, we cannot and will not allow this to go unpunished. In the next few minutes you will make history and strike back, today we shall rescue a brother that was taken from us and from there we shall show them the emperor's mercy. FOR THE EMPIRE!" 

Twelve throats screamed the same in response, smacking their fist on their chest the elite of the imperial army prepared themselves for war. A brother had been taken, he would be rescued and those responsible would pay the price for their stupidity. Sealing helmets and checking weapons the three clone commando teams walked to the edge of the dropship bay just before the atmospheric shield. Its blue haze shimmered slightly as they walked out as one stopping just before the metal ended.

"Razor team check."

"Delta team check."

"Ripper team check."

"Fireteam leaders you have your objective, secure possible HVIs and burn the rest. Good hunting." 

Activating jet packs, the three teams separated for their respective insertion's areas given to them by imperial intelligence. The vessel itself stood in stark contrast to the optically cloaked ship they had just left. Where this one was smooth curves and fins, theirs bore the blocky build of an imperial ship of the line. The weak point's had been identified along its hull where blasting charges would be used before the teams inserted inside. The engineering deck, crew quarters, and the shuttle bay would all be used as breaching points for the imperial commandos. Once aboard identified HVIs from the star destroyer cameras would be hunted down, tagged and brought aboard the observer alongside their brother. CT-1157A might have been a regular trooper from an imperial naval security legion but he was a brother, and he would be returned home. 

It took one minute for the teams to cross the vastness of space separating their two ships, Razor landed first at the crew quarters. Ripper followed at the engineering deck and Delta finished near the shuttle bay.

"All teams check on insertions, prepare charges for breach."

Each team's explosive specialist expertly planted the small thermal charges to the ship's hull plating. Careful not to create an explosion big enough to destroy the ship, the commandos finished within seconds of each other before signaling the go. 

"All teams go for charges, breach in three, two, one."

There was no screaming, no war cry's of battle, just the silence of brothers who had done this a million times before in their own galaxy. What followed the external explosions were massive decompressions with crewman and supplies falling out of the holes into the void. Each team witnessed the choking, gasping humans as they went for their throats in the void of space before succumbing to the inhospitable atmosphere. No clone harbored any feelings for the humans, they were traitors who had supported the kidnapping of their brother and nothing more. All three teams entered at the same time with weapons up and HUDs on they scanned their unique surroundings. All three teams noted a blue barrier popping up after the sections exposed to the void which resorted atmosphere to the formally decompressed sections, some survivors stared back in fear. 

In the crew quarters, Razor encountered their first resistance in the form of a crewman raising a pistol. She would die with half her upper body charred by Lasor rounds as her fellow sailors joined her seconds later with precision fire cutting them down in droves. Ripper entered the engineering deck through the same blue mass effect shielding, among the pipes and machinery the team navigated the small engine quarters to find only two people hastily getting their equipment back online. An alien, A quarrian if the intel was right was in the middle of batting away at a keyboard. Neither she nor the human beside her noticed the team behind them until a misstep by Ripper three threw a random piece of machinery to the grates below. Hearing this, both engineers turned to look at who had disturbed their workspace and froze. 

Four black, bulky armor sets with blue highlighted visors stared down the two engineers with less than a meter separating them. Razor one selected stun on his weapon as the alien pulled a device from her back and activated her omni tool. Tech attacks and mass effect weapons had been the mainstay of their galaxy as well and their armor made to counter weapons just like this. Sending a tech attack the alien attempted to hack their armor systems while she fired her shotgun point-blank at the fireteam. With a sudden sense of impending doom, she watched as her tech attack frazzled out and her shots impacted the most powerful shields she had ever seen. The other human meanwhile had taken the few seconds to run down to the other side of the room and out of the only other door, which left the purple clothed alien staring at four commandos. Razor one discharged a single stun blast, knocking the HVI out before pulling a pair of cuffs and latching them onto the alien.

Delta was the last to enter as the shuttle bay didn't decompress like any other of the compartments as the shields had already come online for its atmosphere. All four clones entered in sequence, the first scanning the room before his eyes fell upon a sight and he froze.

"Brother."

The single word spoken across platoon comms told all teams he had been found; a brother had been recovered but the way it was spoken was not of joy but rather fear, and then anger.

"All teams this is Delta four, relaying video feed now."

On every helmet inside the Normandy, a video began to play in the upper right section. The team was approaching a single figure sitting in a chair that was wearing only a black bodysuit. Beside him an elderly woman held up her hands, crying, as she held up what looked to be medical equipment but none of the commandos noticed. All eyes were on the figure sitting in the chair, hands and feet bound, armor plates ripped off, and his suit cut off to reveal his skin beneath. Within these cuts to the suit, large gashes flowed blood, his hands broken leaked it onto the floor and from behind he looked almost dead. It wasn't until Delta had crossed in front of their brother that his injuries fully came into the light. 

His jaw was broken for sure, with teeth and bits of bone jutting off from his mouth which sat at an inhuman angle. Slashes and bruises crisscrossed and marred his face in what looked to be impacted, the tattoo which had held his birth number had been torn off his head, the skin now laying on the floor in what could have only have been through the usage of a knife. His eyes barely registered his brother's now surrounding him, and it wasn't until delta four had gotten eye level and held up his head that they finally registered what was before him. In a blood filled, spittle throwing voice CT-1157A uttered a single sentence. 

"Brothers, help me."

Delta four pulled his knife and cut away at his bonds, causing only further pain as they had held the broken limbs of the clone before him. Delta two quickly held his body in place as four continued to cut away at the last three ropes holding him to the chair. Delta three enraged at the sight of his brother had pulled his knife and was walking calmly toward the normal human before him, intent as causing as much pain as possible when he felt the gloved hand of Delta four grasp his while he regained his composure. Three returned his knife to its sheath and left the doctor before four who was now leering at her from beneath his helmet. 

"You are a doctor yes."

"Yes."

"You will assist my medic in helping our brother than. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

His team already knew the plan, two being the team medic would stay with the trooper while the rest would clear out the rest of their objectives. The three other commandos began to head for the elevator when the ship began to wobble, then turn rapidly throwing the occupants of the room across the bay. 

**Normandy cockpit, three minutes earlier.**

"Ah, commander, good to see you, next time we're at the citadel were going to need a replacement for those sensors." 

"Still reading a phantom ship?"

"Yes commander, apparently theirs a frigate just moseying right beside us without showing herself."

"Hm."

"What's that commander?"

"For an empire as technologically advance as these people, it would kind of make sense for them-"

Three explosions shook the entire ship, throwing Shepard forward he landed onto the control console beside joker who was now screaming his observations.

"Decompression on Decks two and three! Multiple hull breaches resealing now!"

Shepard pulling himself out of the cockpit's controls regained his balance on the chair before barking orders.

"What the hell was that!"

"No idea-"

"Boarders! We have boarders on deck-"

Whoever it was suddenly let out a gasp before what could only have been them falling to the ground and an unmissable sound coming through the mic.

"Lasor's, their fucking aboard, all hands prepare to repel boarders!"

Crewman threw themselves out of their chairs as the clambered for the lockers which house armor and weapons. Thankfully Shepard had switched into a new set of armor after his, decontamination from earlier today.

"Ground team report in!"

"Shepard Garrus here in crew quarters, theirs some big bastards killing everyone. Fuck, one second."

"Shepard Wrex here alongside Garrus, my hide is thick but even I can't stand up to these guns we need to get rid of these imperials fast!"

"Tali here in engineering with Adams were restarting the core now and it should-"

"Tali, come in Tali!"

"Shepard, theirs four of them down here right behind us, black armor, much bigger than the usual ones, ancestors protect me."

Gunfire came through the mic sounding like what could only be Talis personnel shotgun, then it went dead.

"Goddammit, joker are we powered up!"

"Yes commander, but once we start flying were going to light up like a Christmas tree for the entire fleet!" 

"Then get us above the planet, all hands ready yourselves for escape pods were going down!"

"Shepard but-"

"We won't make it through that fleet without our stealth drive, it'll be safer for us to go planeside and go underground. When the citadel fleet jumps in the system we will call for rescue."  
Joker tried to find a flaw in his plan before turning back to his consoles and readying the Normandy's last flight.

"Yes, commander." 


	6. Crash Landing

**SSV Normandy, April 12****th****, 2183**

"They're coming up the elevator!" 

Shepard braced himself beside a console, using the station as cover he looked over his crew's terrified faces, guessing as to how the coming firefight was going to play out. If he had a team of N7s, or the regular ground team he could see it playing out in his favor with their sustained gunfire coupled with biotic powers keeping the invaders at bay. But around him were the crewman and sailors of the SSV Normandy, some of the best technicians, and maintenance personnel the SA could offer, but they were no soldiers. Of course, they had been trained for events like this and would slow down their foe for a time being, but it would not last, if these invaders were anything like 1157A then their fates were sealed as soon as that door opened.

"Here they come, get ready!"

There were a dozen of them holding the command deck, all wearing crisp brand new armor straight out of the packaging, in their hands the M8 avengers were firing their first shots in anger. Navigator Pressly was near the front with the galaxy map to his rear, everyone watched the elevator as its indicators showed it coming to a stop on their deck. The doors opened and gunfire erupted through the entire deck, mass effect rounds splattered against the inside of the elevator surely cutting apart whoever had been inside. 

"Cease fire! Ceasefire!" 

With the ceasefire came the pops of heat sinks as crewmen reloaded their overheated weapons and the real reason for the elevator emptiness became apparent. The floor exploded upwards in fire and smoke making the Normandy's crew mask their faces from the sheer intensity of the explosion. Shepard's helmet polarized, taking care of the light just enough for him to make out something fly out from under the elevator and land not ten feet away from him. Then there were two, three in total and the screams of his crew began. 

"Fuck, reload fucking faster!"

His crew blinded by the light had stopped in the middle of reloading their heat sinks, were now defenseless as they scrambled to jam the devices into their weapons.

"Commander we are burning for the planet and being tailed by at least twenty fighters!" 

He would have to hold these giants back; his only goal now was to give joker and the rest of the crew enough time to make it to the planet and get to the escape pods. Shepard put his crosshairs on the first black armored clone just as he opened fire on the crew closest to him. His weapon spat blue bolts, burning through armor and into the soft flesh beneath, making the targets scream as they died under the withering fire from three of these monsters of war. Shepard squeezed the trigger, letting off a five-round burst his shots connected with the target but stopped short as they shimmered under a blue kinetic shield. Shepard fired again and again as the fire team took cover at the consoles to the galaxy map while expertly placing a burst of fire into the crewman around him. 

Amid the firefight Shepard noticed someone dragging themselves across the deck beside him, stopping his fire he grabbed the unknown by their vest and dragged him beside him. Sending another burst downrange he then stopped to look over just who had been dragging themselves away from the fight. Upon seeing the face Shepard cringed inward, unwilling to accept just what he was seeing. Navigator Pressley was burnt in a dozen places, melting armor fused with skin while his helmet was visibly cracked from the intense heat shot into him. 

"Commander, I'm dying."

His voice was raspy, most likely due to the laser rounds. Smoke began to fill the deck as fire broke out from the laser fire through the deck. A grenade arched into one of the crew trenches, detonating among three of his sailors in a shower of red mist and chunks of gore. Shepard let off another burst before hovering his omni tool over Pressly and sending whatever medi gel he had into his system. Another grenade flew across the enclosed space, shattering another group and cutting down the defenders to only four. Shepard and three other crewmen huddled behind the most forward part of the galaxy map now, closest to joker he could visibly see the pilot maneuvering pass dozens of ships as the planet got closer and closer. 

"Shepard."

"You're going to be ok Pressly, you're going to be ok." 

"Shepard, I have a granddaughter being born, I'm ah, I'm not going to make it." 

"Yes, you are Pressly, you're going to be fine." 

Smoke now inhibited his view of the rearmost command deck. Thick oily smoke blocking any sensors he had on his HUD, he had to relay in his eyeballs for any movement. In the darkness, he could see figures move, figures much too large to be his crew. Out of the smoke, a single crewman pulled themselves across the ground, weapon forgotten the female sailor was halfway out of the smoke when a black armored hand grabbed her by the feet and dragged her back screaming. 

"No!"

Shepard fire a burst, hopefully, into her attacker but it was only seconds later that he heard a woman's scream interrupted by a gurgling sound. 

"Shepard, tell my family I loved them ok, tell them I'm sorry I didn't make it home."

"You're going to be fine Pressly-"

A grenade flew out of the smoke, its odd red indicator blinking as it arched itself directly beside Shepard and Pressly.

"Pressly No!"

In his dying state the former navigation officer had not cared for his wellbeing, he simply laid over onto the grenade and took the brunt of the blast which still carried the power to send Shepard flying. Shepard felt the wave drive him toward the wall as he impacted against a console and slid down its surface. Ribs are broken most likely, airway clear, Shepard attempted to push himself off the console but succeeded in only falling into the crewman's trench. Laser fire sounded across the deck with the screams of his crewman succumbing to these monster's fire. Shepard looked over to Joker and saw that he had done his purpose, the Normandy was entering the atmosphere with flames coming across her shields now. 

"This is Joker to any crewman left alive! We're going in for a hard landing, so I recommend you get to an escape pod now and get the hell out of here!"

"Shepard its Garrus, are you their Shepard!"

Coughing, Shepard keyed the Mic.

"Here Garrus, we've been overrun on the command deck, get to an escape pod now."

"Shepard we've gotten ahold of Liara and Ash, were holding inside the Med lab but these bastards are right outside. We can't just leave you, Shepard!" 

"Get to an escape pod Garrus, ill make my way to the one near the bridge, just get the fuck out of here!"

He could hear the apprehension in his best friend's voice, the fear underlying it making all that harder to speak.

"Ok, but you make sure you get out Shepard, you better get the fuck out, Garrus out."

Shepard pulled himself onto the deck plate and looked right, a black giant had just finished firing a single bolt into a crewman's form. The blue visor scanning across the deck until it landed on Shepard, locking on like a predator to prey. Shambling to his feet Shepard began shambling to the cockpit having to rely on crewman's chairs to keep himself upright, only looking back once he saw the visor now intensely staring at him and its wearer calmly walking to the cockpit. Shepard began back pacing, keeping his eyes on the predator until a large door release marked security came into view.

"Eat shit and die, you motherfucker!" 

Hitting the door release sent a five-inch-thick slab of steel to the deck with a resounding thud, gaining the attention of Joker. 

"Holy shit commander you, are they that fucking close!"

Finally, feeling the urge to breathe, Shepard bent over at the waist and decided to catch his breath. 

"Yes joker, the crews dead or dying, now are you ready to get the fuck out of here."

"Uh yeah, sure commander, the Normandy she's."

"Not going to make it joker, it'll take the fucks who killed her down with it though."

"Alright, help me up then."

Shepard helped the crippled Joker into the escape pod beside the cockpit, firmly securing the weakened man into his seat he hit the door release to the pod just as the cockpit barrier slab blew open. He hit eject but not before he saw a black figure walk calmly out of the black smoke and stare into his pod. His eyes met visor as the pod shot out from his dying ship and the extent of the damage became all too real. 

"Jesus fucking Christ, my fucking ship."

Engineering was wasted, its deck cut open for the entire galaxy to see, inside he could barely see the spiking form of the reactor going haywire. The crew quarters looked like a massive can opener had been used to pry back the metal, revealing the bunks and quarters of his crew. He couldn't see the shuttle bay but contact had been lost immediately with so his guess was another team of the giants had inserted there. His ship and crew which had successfully hunted the most dangerous person in the galaxy and his ancient super dreadnaught buddy, now lay burning up in the atmosphere of Adri prime. Dying a long drawn out death unlike what most of its crew had received at the end of a laser weapon by its killers.

"Something you thought you'd never see huh commander."

"Never in a million years joker, all pods this is commander Shepard check-in." 

"Garrus here with Liara, Ash, and Wrex, that is all."

"Adams and Rolskey checking in…"

**Xenos ship, plummeting toward the planet.  
**

"All teams check."

"Razor up, sixteen KIA. No survivors."

Ripper up, one HVI secured. Thirteen KIA No survivors." 

"Delta up, Brother secured alongside single POW, Elevan KIA." 

"Confirm other HVIs?"

"Negative."

"Negative."

"Possible escape pod launch near cockpit will relay video feed after the operation." 

"Confirmed, use the escape pods aboard the vessel and await further orders."

"Wilco."

"Wilco."

"Wilco."

**Imperial Palace, Coruscant. April 12****th****, 2332 (Imperial Calendar)**

The room was abuzz with activity as fleet reports came in and orders were sent out to thousands of ships across the fledgling empire. The rosters had finally come in and the number of ships that had been caught in the energy wave had been astounding. Three nineteen Kilometer Titan class ships, four thousand star destroyers of different makes, seven thousand cruiser class and below, and the flagship of the imperial navy had all been caught within the six systems of the empire when the energy wave had transported them from their home galaxy. Fifty-six percent of the fleet had answered the homeworlds call and to defend the center of civilization. 

Leadership had been reorganized, in only weeks new fleets were stood up after being put together from those low on manpower and ship tonnage. All of it stood as a testament to man's will to conquer, to take what was rightfully owed in a galaxy which would show no mercy if given the chance. Intel had been scant at first before the 8th fleet had found the alien world only three jumps from Coruscant. High command had gone insane at first, calling for the usage of the colossus on this single alien world to remove its taint from being so close to the homeworld. The emperors level head prevailed though, the fleet had been sent out and conquered this abysmal alien world, now ruling it over and making way for human settlers already on their way.  
"All rise for the emperor!"

The room full of dozens of the highest-ranking officer within the empire fell silent. None dare to disrespect the leader of all mankind as he strode into the room wearing a simple white uniform. 

"Carry on commanders, we have an empire to run after all."

The general buzz of conversation began again, the emperor looking over data feeds and news reports until a single snippet of information crossed his eyes. Stopping at an out of the way terminal reserved for the imperial security bureau, a report detailing the boarding of a star destroyer by foreign elements and the capture of a clone trooper. The lieutenant at the console hadn't noticed the emperor looking over his shoulder and was busy filing away a brand-new report when the gravelly voice spoke behind him.

"What is the status of the rescue of our trooper here." 

Turning to the speaker the officer's eyes went wide before resuming his duty and pulling up the latest intel packet.

"My lord, as of thirty-four minutes ago clone commandos from the 33rd Commando detachment inserted upon a Xenos stealth vessel and rescued the trooper along with capturing two other prisoners. The ship while under siege decided to blow its escape pods over the planet to safeguard its crew, the 367th, 874th, and 123rd Legion have been dispatched to hunt down the threats."

"The latest intel to cross my desk spoke of a commander Shepard, commander of an SSV Normandy class stealth vessel. Zoom in on the burning wreck Lieutenant."

Zooming in, both men could make out the inscription painted onto the side of the burning ship.

"SSV Normandy, this means the council is now responding to our moves lieutenant. What shall we do now that they are aware of our presence and are most likely readying themselves for a counter strike lieutenant, what counter move shall be done to safeguard our empire?"

The LT was now visibly sweating in his grey uniform, mulling over what the emperor had just said he believed his quick answer would be the best.

"Hunker down my lord, prepare a rock for them to die on and bleed them dry."

The emperor thought it over, a solid strategy yes but one that held no vision. He hadn't conquered a galaxy waiting on the Xenos to strike, no he grabbed them by their throats and bashed their heads in.

"An option Lieutenant, but not one I would use. Carry on."

The LT gave a hushed affirmative before going back to his intel reports. He would do well in his service to the empire, most likely become a Lieutenant colonel by the time he retired but he would be no general, no leader of armies. No that was reserved for those of grand empire, of vision, of his vision of seeing this galaxy in flames and when it had been burned to the ground, rebuilt. Just like the previous one before, this galaxy would fall before the might of humanity and its alien denizen would live out their meager lives in service to the empire. The aliens and their human partners had attacked an imperial vessel, capturing one of his cloned elite and torturing the poor bastard for information. They must be shown the error of their ways, shocked into understanding just who was destined to control the galaxy and if it took the usage of the most powerful weapon in the imperial arsenal then so be it. The emperor keyed his personnel mic and relayed a message to newly promoted Grand Admiral Bankston, he required the weapon, the killer of gods.

**Adri Prime, April 13****th****, 2183**

They were alone, just them and their pod staring up into the night sky of Adri prime. How many had died aboard the Normandy they didn't know; all they knew now was that they were alone and leaderless. Garrus looked over Ashley's bandages again, seeing the medigel taking effect he thanked the spirits internally before moving on to the other wounded. Wrex had been burned badly after attempting to take on one of those soldiers in close combat, not willing to admit it the stubborn Krogan continued his watch of the perimeter while he looked over Ash and Liara. Liara thankfully had not awoken during their escape from the Normandy, her face and skin were still badly burned from the alien acid and she would never look the same again.

"Garrus, air contacts to the north."

"You can hear them?"

"Yeah, some type of sound I've never heard before, has to be dropships or something of the like. I don't want to be here when they arrive though, see if either of them can walk."

Garrus moved back to Ash who was staring into the night sky, her face a mess of staples and bandages, she was conscious but in terrible pain.

"Ashley, can you hear me?"

A slight mumble until her lips parted and she spoke through clenched teeth.

"Yeah Garrus, but my face, it hurts so bad."

"I know, I know, listen we have to move thought can you do that?"

"Why are we outside, where's the Normandy, where's Shepard?"

"It's a long story ash but we have to move now, can you move your body at all?"

Her limbs answered groggily, first her arms then her legs as she pulled herself up and the bandages on her face moved. A yelp came from her before she came to her full height while holding her face. Through tears, she spoke. 

"Do you have any pain meds, fucking anything, Garrus it fucking hurts."

"Yeah let me check in the pod, Wrex can you grab Liara for me, I don't think she's going to be moving anytime soon."

"What the hell happened to Liara?"

"Long story ash, ill grab you a weapon and some armor if there is any."

"Ok, Garrus." 

Garrus reentered the pod and recalled the journey here. The firefight in the Normandy's bowels where dozens of crewmen died around him, killing those he had come to know during the hunt for Saren. How he and Wrex had fallen back to the medical ward but not before one of the giants had attempted to block Wrex's path, resulting in the burns which now covered the old Krogans body. A tech attack on the door had stopped their entry for a while and right before they had blown out with the pod he'd seen them breach through its metal frame, through the glass of the pod he could almost feel the hatred radiating off of those beings, pure malice. It kind of reminded him of sovereign, the reaper hell-bent of killing every living thing in the galaxy. 

"Quite the comparison their Garrus, now where the hell do alliance marines store their-"

"Garrus we've got movement to the north in the trees, about two dozen of them on line and moving toward us. It's a search party, we need to move now, I've already got Liara on my back."

"Alright coming out then, sorry ash I could only find a predator, No meds."

"Fuck, ok thanks Garrus."

Wrex hobbled over to the pair and Asari strapped to his back.

"We have to move now, their only two hundred meters away."

"We move south then; I saw a town of some kind before we landed, and it didn't look too far away." 

"Lead the way than Garrus."

Interrupting the conversation and an odd wub, wub, wub sound passed over the trees.

"Air support, this just got a lot more dicey."


	7. Hunted

**Adri Prime, April 13****th****, 2183**

"Sergeant, pod two hundred meters ahead, No eyes on occupants." 

"Might be booby-trapped, prep stun grenades and breach, four and two pull security." 

The four-man fireteam approached the white and blue colored escape pod, emblazoned proudly on its side SSV NORMANDY. One sent a stun in, waiting for the device to go off before swinging his frame inside and scanning the interior. 

"Nothing, but I've got blood marks heading out of the pod, possibly wounded."

Sitting twenty meters away, hidden beneath a downed tree and random brush pulled over him was Shepard.

"Blood trail leads south for ten meters before dropping off, looks like whoever had dragged it cleaned up their tracks." 

"Alert command, tell them to send for LAATs with thermals, this fucks not getting away."

The four troopers regrouped in a diamond formation before moving south, one came right in front of Shepard. Up close Shepard could see his chest rise and fall, his thumb rub the selector switch on his weapon, and his emotionless helmet scan the forest in front of him. The Stormtrooper picked himself up over the log and was gone, Shepard hadn't noticed he had been holding in his breath the entire time, the coldness of the body next to him reminded him just how dangerous the situation had become. The Normandy was gone, blown up in the atmosphere and his crew scattered across the planet. In the ensuing free fall from orbit, his pod's thrusters had stopped working, knocking him out in the air, when he had awoken to the alarms screaming at him the first image he saw was his friend dead. Joker had died in seconds, as the pod impacted it must have cracked every single weak bone in his body and bled him from the inside out. Thankfully it looked like he had died while still unconscious, unable to feel the pain anymore. 

"Im sorry Joker, I can't take you with me but I will come back for you, I promise."

Shepard brushed mud over his friend's lifeless form, careful not to make too much noise until the body was completely covered. The best pilot in the alliance now lay beneath a thin layer of Adri Prime mud, in a forest no one would ever remember is the first stages of a galactic war where billions would die in the first weeks. He like everybody else either planetwide or formally aboard the Normandy were only the first casualty's and Shepard would see they would not be the last. Getting his kit together, the N7 operative planned his route and began the movement to his direct south. 

**Adri Prime, Normandy survivors. **

"Did you hear that?"

Garrus, Wrex, Liara, and Ashley all came to a halt at the edge of a ravine leading toward their objective, this was to be their last major landmark until the town would come into view. 

"Lasor's, imperials ahead. Do we have anything on scans?"

Wrex got on his omnitool and began plotting possible landing zones for the other pods or other possible friendlies in the area.

"Engineering pod landed somewhere around here, possibly them Garrus, but if the imperials have found them I don't think they're going to last long." 

Garrus looked over the assembled group of survivors, two walking wounded, one unconscious, and one able-bodied ready to fight. Not good odds, but over the past months of fighting they had fought through worst. 

"Alright people, I know Shepard's not here right now but it falls on us to save our crew, these are the people which flew across the galaxy in our fight against Saren and we will not leave them behind."

Wrex nodded, Ashely took a second before nodding as well.

"Alright then, Wrex you move on the western edge of the ravine and myself and ash will go the east. Stay on comms and be ready for anything with the imperials." 

"Alright Garrus, don't leave my ass hanging out here."

"Will do, good luck."

Wrex nodded again before stomping off into the now rain covered forest. The ravine itself was clear of most brush save for the occasional bush or rocky edge. With Ash beside him, Garrus checked over his mantis again and scanned the ravine for the source of the weapons fire. Two hundred meters to his front the sound of an M8 letting off two round bursts echoed up the ravine. 

"Shit they're engaged, double-time ash!" 

Laser fire intermixed with the M8s burst, several different weapons now returned fire as the crash site came into Garrus's view.

"Garrus im across from you, eyes on four imperials advancing on the pod, two sailors are trying to hold them off but they have minutes at most."

Garrus sat his rifle on the edge of his side of the ravine and scoped up on the imperials below. These troopers were different than the one taken aboard the Normandy; their armor wasn't the stark white but rather a leafy camouflage green which blended in with their surroundings. Three carried the same weapon as the other trooper while one carried something longer on a bipod, Garrus guessed it to be a sniper rifle until the user began letting off five-round burst into the crash site.

"A machine gunner, along with three riflemen, must be a fireteam Garrus."

"Yeah, alright Wrex you still there?" 

"Yes."

"Alright plan, I'll take out that machine gunner taking their attention, when that happens, I want you to advance on their rear and cut them up with your shotgun. After that, we take out the rest from two sides, deal?" 

"Gotcha, take the shot then."

Garrus leaned into his rifle, creating enough tension to keep the weapon stabilized while he lined up his crosshairs on the clone below. The words of CT-1157A entered his mind as to just what these troopers were, children sent to fight in a war they did not understand. But they were soldiers, child soldiers in grown men's bodies who were about to end the lives of alliance personnel. The machine gunner had just inserted a magazine and was about to fire again when Garrus squeezed the trigger and let it fly. The slice of metal flew with a yellow tint, accelerated towards its target the round impacted the clone trooper's left eyepiece, going through his head before stopping against the back of his helmet. As soon as the trooper dropped the other three reacted, two looked over his hillside, finding the shooter through their night vision HUDs and began firing on Garrus and Ash. Garrus had suspected all three would fire and advance upon his position, allowing Wrex to come up behind and ambush them with their guard down.

While two fired upon him, the third hadn't stopped his advance onto the pod and was now less than twenty meters away. Bolts of heated energy impacted left and right, kicking up heated dirt and molten rock beside Garrus and Ash.

"Wrex, please tell me you already on the move!"

"Yeah, limbs are acting kind of funny and Liara is getting a little heavier but im on the move."

Ash peeked her head over their scant cover and sent five-round burst from her predator into the advancing troopers below, some hit but didn't look to do any damage as the targets continued their trek up the ravine. 

"Shit these guys are tough, reloading."

Garrus now flipped with her, sliding his rifle over the downed tree they lay behind he scoped up on one of the troopers once more. His crosshairs had just centered over his chest plate when the trooper fired. The round sizzled through the air before slamming into the scope of Garrus's rifle, shattering it into a thousand shards and sending Garrus reeling back to cover. Upon noticing just where the round had impacted, Ash stared in surprise before seeing blue droplets of blood begin to cover Garrus's face.

"You Good!"

Garrus pulled the remnants of the scope off, tossing the hardware away before flipping up the backup iron sights.

"Yeah, suppress these fuckers."

Ash went over the tree, firing a few rounds before her heat sink popped and she fell back down. Garrus then tried looking over again, his instincts told him to stay down and wait for wrex but he would take the fucker who had destroyed a gift from his father. While his irons sights weren't nearly as good, he could still make out the bounding form of the clone moving amongst the trees. Garrus couldn't find his friend though which was a major problem but in his quiet rage Garrus disregarded the other. His sights were aligned, breathing controlled, finger squeezing the trigger, the rifle bucked against his shoulder. Sending its sliver of metal downrange he watched with satisfaction as the round impacted the clone mid-stride in the chest. Blue blood rolled down either of his cheeks but he didn't care, the kinetic force of the round had sent the trooper sprawling. Grabbing at his chest, the trooper attempted to get up once, twice, before he began crawling across the ground to cover. Garrus wouldn't give him that chance, cycling another round the turian lined up the downed trooper once more and readied himself for the kill.

Twin red blast impacted his rifle and hand, shattering what was left of the mass effect powered weapon and vaporizing his right hand. Yelping, the turian slid back down behind cover and grabbed onto the charred remains of his right hand.

"Oh shit, fuck, Garrus, you motherfuckers!"

Ash hopped over, emptying her entire thermal clip into their unseen enemy before falling back down. The wounded alliance marine was bleeding from her bandages again, her face most likely is shocking pain but she hadn't noticed, slamming another clip she readied herself to fire once more, but a large man-shaped shadow turned around their downed log. Both citadel personnel looked to the shadow in shock and surprise, the menacing black barrel of the stormtroopers weapon aimed right at their faces. Across the Ravine and holding himself up against a tree, wrex watched as blue light shot out from the tree line and both Garrus and Ashley's comms went dead.

"No, no, please no."

The old Krogan battle master was tired, so very tired in his thousand years of war. He had been close to death in the past of course, but right now, this was the hardest he had ever felt its embrace touch his large frame. Wrex heard Liara mumble something on his back before he took a knee on the tree and collected himself. The faint drip of his life force exiting his body reminded him of his mortality, that he of all things could, in fact, die out here in a forest no one would ever remember, hounded by beings born in tubes less than five to ten years old. 

"What a way to go, Tuchunka, I might not-"

The clacking of armor plates sounded off from behind him, dozens approaching, he had to move and fast. The old Krogan picked himself off the tree and waddled, jogged, then ran with all his might to anywhere but here and as far away from those sounds as possible. He was Krogan but he was not stupid, his hide could take a few ME round but lasers didn't give a shit about mass or muscle, they burned through everything. He had to save Liara, to keep at least one of his crew safe and hopefully find Shepard in this mess of a planet.

**INV Colossus April 14****th**** 2332 (Imperial Calendar)**

The emperor's visions would burn a path in the stars, a gilded pathway to enlighten humanity in this directionless galaxy of subjugation through culture. He'd seen the reports on the Xenos encountered in this galaxy and it disgusted him, he was not one of the more radical officers but nonetheless when he had seen the perversion of the human form his lips had sneered in disgust. These Asari, they were nothing short of Vermin who would slowly but surely outbreed the other galactic powers as they whispered sweet nothings in their ears. They had thought their technological edge over the rest of the galaxy had kept them safe, they were wrong. They thought their alliances with their fellow empires kept them safe, they were also wrong. The Asari people would be made an example of, the emperor demanded it and his will shall be done. 

"Admiral, exiting hyperspace in three minutes."

"Thank you, ensign."

Word of the successful invasion of Adri Prime and its successful resettlement had spread joy in the now humbled empire. Weeks ago it had numbered two thousand worlds, trillions continuing its fight against the mongrel Xenos in the stars, now it numbered seven including Adri Prime. It would only be the first in a long line of battles to come, for the empire to endure, it would expand and conquer until this galaxy was ruled by one species and one species alone, man. These foul Xenos would remember these days, the days of their power at its height before the eventual fall of their peasant nation-states before the might of the one and only empire. 

"Exiting hyperspace in 3,2,1 exiting hyperspace."

The massive, almost moon-sized battle station was awash in a blue corona before its successful transition back to real space. Around it, a similar vessel of imperial make followed it through the blackness of space, jumping in at pre-determined points as the target of this operation came into view. The emperor had wished to send a message greater than Adri prime, a message of what was to come to those who dare defy the empire of man. 

"Admiral, the 3rd, 23rd, and 28th fleet reports a successful jump. All IFFs reporting in per standard times." 

"Good, what of the enemy?"

"Scanning now sir."

He wasn't here for the fleet battle, not that would fall on the admirals of the security screen sent to cover the battle station as it journeyed to its firing point. Although it carried its own batteries of anti-ship and anti-aircraft cannon, it did not need to endanger itself for something so frivolous as a Xenos fleet attempting to defend itself it orbit. That fell on the dozens of star destroyers, escort craft, and two massive giants allocated to fleet defense, the titans, the hammers of humanity. At nineteen kilometers long the ship could block out the sun on a given planet, backlighting themselves in a show of force to whatever enemy lay below as a warning to their destruction. Thousands of Laser batteries, thousands more space capable fighters and bombers along with a ground force capable of seizing a planet, by themselves, they could quell a star system, with two he would make the galaxy quiver. 

"Scans coming in now sir, detecting per Xenos classification, three dreadnoughts, one hundred forty-seven cruisers, and two hundred or so frigates with several popping in and out of thermal detection." 

"Stealth ships then, but cloaked only thermally, Interesting."

"Receiving hails from every ship in orbit, shall we answer them?"

And give them insight on their own destruction.

"Answer the hail and bring it up on screen."

The holographic projector at his observation window turned on with a flash of blue materializing, several seconds later the tentacled head of an Asari entered his screen.

"This is Admiral Beninna Caleius of the Ilium defense fleet to the Alien fleet approaching, identify yourself or be fired upon!"

"Is that how you speak to your betters?"

His face must have shown up on the other side of the call as when the Asari recognized his uniform and smugness associated with imperial officers, her face turned a different shade of blue. She began to shake upon her recognition, a Matriarch of several hundred years staring off against an Admiral of the Imperial Navy.

"You, your people, you're the ones who took Adri Prime!"

"Yes, humanity took Adri prime as it is its destiny to take what is rightfully owed."

There was no lie to be said here, only facts. The Alien Admiral spoke to someone off camera before returning on-screen with a smile across her lips. 

"Listen prick, you may have some mighty big ships their but if you think your just going to throw an asteroid at my planet your out of your fucking mind."

That rose a brow.

"An asteroid?"

"You think no one has ever done that before, really? You make yourself all high and mighty but then you resort to the same tactics the Krogan used in their little rebellion, your nothing more than an animal which needs to be put in its place you imperial hack. Ladies lets show these Cerberus wannabes how wars are fought, for the republic!"

She thought the battle station, was an asteroid. Oh, for the love of-

"Admiral, Defense fleet is conducting hard burn for our security screens. Estimated TOT three minutes."

"Order the fleets to open fire, I wanted to toy with these aliens but apparently their dumber than I thought possible."

"Yes sir, orders away."

He had a speech, a prepared speech that he was going to relay to the alien commanders before destroying their shitty little world but, screw it. He would fulfill his orders and then leave this tainted system to its awed survivors. The imperial navy began its first volley, green and blue fire shooting out across the black void of space, from here the targets were too small to see with the naked eye so Terrance pulled up a holographic display to watch the massacre in real time. Ship after ship burst into flames, gutted from bow to stern by the might of imperial gunnery. The fast, agile, alien ships fired their cannons again and again but at this distance, the imperial crews could safely dodge the incoming rounds while the turbo lasers cut away at the rapidly falling alien fleet. One or two would get through here and there but the shields would either deflect or absorb the kinetic rounds, rendering them mute. 

"Admiral, TOT two minutes, possible relay traffic as well."

"Alert the third to pull around the battle station and head for the relay, whoever is coming will crash themselves upon the ships of the imperial navy. Order the 23rd to take up their sectors and if need by use the station's guns." 

"Yes sir."

Reinforcements than, no matter, they would burn in the cold void like the rest.

"Sir relay traffic, looking at one hundred, no two hundred contacts coming through the relay, that's odd?"

"Out with it ensign!"

"Contacts appear to be of Geth origin."

"The Geth, the AI?"

"Yes sir, they have not opened fire yet though and are, what in the, sir they wish to hail us!"

"Comms officer, get this machine on the comm!" 

A rogue machine intelligence wishing to speak, the same intelligence that had not spoken to any member of this galaxy for three hundred years, odd. The machine voice came through the comms, making it's the human's job to now be startled.

"Greetings Imperials, we are Geth."

"Yes Hello, Geth. State your business, we are currently conducting a war here."

"We wish to evacuate our people before your intentions for the planet are made, we wish to save our creators."  
To save their creators? The Quarians?

"Preposterous, you exiled your creators three hundred years ago and this is an Asari world why would your creators be planeside. And how do you know my intentions!"

"That is not an asteroid as stated by the Asari Admiral, it is a fully crewed battle station carrying DEW weaponry capable of cracking a planet. Our creators planetside are slaves, taken, we wish to have them back." 

"Sir, Geth fleet is holding just outside of the relay."

Diplomacy then, although uncommon during the great war the empire would from time to time conduct these acts when the time called for it. If he were to allow the Geth fleet through the imperials would appear to of allied with the Geth, meanwhile, the rouge machines would take their people off-planet leaving only Asari and their vermin. Terrance had been quite interested in the Quarians and their nomadic ways, even feeling a little sad for a race that was dying on a fleet of archaic starships in the cold void. 

"How long would it take you to recover your people machine?"

"Within twenty standard minutes, all creators shall be recovered from the planet. All are currently tagged by their omni tools, allowing Geth troops to recover them easier."

"You will stay outside of the security screen during this time, not coming anywhere near the battle station."

"Yes."

"Then I shall allow it, comms inform all imperial ships of the Geth and get rid of these asari pests." 

"Yes sir!"

**Ilium, April 13****th****, 2183**

The sky was on fire, a light show of green and blues followed by massive fireballs erupting here and their told a story of thousands dying by the second. But here, down in the streets of the most prosperous Asari colony this side of the terminus, two slaves answered their master. 

"You stupid suit rat, I told you to fix this yesterday, what in the goddess's name is your problem!"

The age-old matriarch slapped the Male and then female over the head twice. Both currently hung their heads in shame, having been caught on their pilgrimage by shady businessmen the pair had quickly entered indentured servitude and eventual slavery.

"How many times do I need to reiterate, your one and only job is to "fix" omni tools so the customers bring it back later with another problem. But you two idiots wish to see this business fail, you want to see me on the streets having to peddle your two stupid asses for money because I've been so bad to you. Is that it, is this your little rebellion to my stewardship! answer me!"

She slapped the male over the head again, earning a small yelp of pain. 

"Please Ms, we only wish to do our jobs."

"You job is to do my bidding! I don't care how much you want to fix their stupid tools; you will do as I say or little Ms. hips here is going to the terminus and not coming back do you understand!"

The males eyes went wide, scared at the thought of his crush being sent out to the terminus as nothing more than a pleasure slave. He would not allow it to happen, he would become the best slave in the world if it meant keeping his prospective mate form such a vile- A crash came from the front of the store, sending the Asari scurrying for cover followed by her two Quarian slaves. The Matriarch pulled out an older model while slowly shaking.

"Whoever's out their! This is my store and I will defend it per Iliums self-defense act!"

Nothing. Not a word came from the front except a small whirring sound of mechanical nature. A steady thump of feet on the carpet until the feet met the tile of the backroom's door, right outside the office. The matriarch stood up, revealing herself behind her desk to the door. 

"You better get out now! The police are already-"

Gunfire came through the door, a controlled burst of five plasma enhance ME round stitching up the asaris body from neck to waist. The blue corpse slowly edged down the wall behind it, leaving a purple blood smear before coming to a stop in a sitting position. Both Quarians just stared wide-eyed at their former boss and slave master across from them, before looking at each other and then slowly peering over the desk to the door. The shooter still hadn't opened the door, leaving five small bullets holes in its frame. The door slowly began to open and something neither had ever expected in their entire life occurred before their eyes. 

An eyestalk, a glowing eyestalk of only one thing in the galaxy edged its way through the small opening, scanning the room before ending on the two Quarians staring back.

"Creators."

Both Quarians dropped, now hyperventilating the male grabbed for the Asaris SMG and held the weapon for dear life in shaking hands. The female edged closer to the male while they heard the door creak open the thumps of mechanical feet entered the room. Something entered his peripheral vision before coming to a stop and bending over until a low light illuminated his visor.

"Creators"

Hearing the voice so close made him jump, the SMG clattered out of his hands as he rose both up to defend himself. A couple of seconds passed before he peered out from behind his hands to a Geth, an actual Geth staring back at him.

"Please come with this unit creators, we must evacuate the planet before its destruction, the imperials will not wait."

What. WHAT. WHAT. The geth began walking back out the door, leaving the two Quarian's bewildered as they stared at its back, the female moved first.

"C'mon, I do not want to be here when the imperials arrive."

"you're just going to follow the Geth? A real Geth?!"

"Yes, now let's go before we lose our chance to leave this slum."

"With a Geth."

"Yes."

"Fine."

The left the office to find the front windows shattered the unit which had "recovered" them walking through it. More Geth were running down the street, all cradling the same plasma weapons as the duo left the place of their combined slavery and took their first steps toward freedom. The streets were a warzone, everywhere they looked Geth units were engaging ilium security and police units with dazzling displays of firepower. Primes, Armatures, and regular units numbered in the hundreds and that was just the units they could see. In the skies dozens of fighters and dropships passed overhead followed by actual frigates entering atmosphere the tracers of a defending world. 

"What's going on!"

"Geth units are recovering all creator's planetside, follow this unit to the recovery zone." 

Their unit took off down the street toward the city center, both Quarians took up jogging behind it while the sky began to grow darker and darker as if something was blotting out the sun.

"We must hurry creators; Imperial armada is closing!"

The trio passed a pair of dead turians wearing blue sun armor before passing an alleyway where a squad of nine Geth and a single Quarian met up with them. The new male Quarian met up with the other two in the center of their new protectors as the battle began reaching a fever pitch around them. 

"Kellah, what is going on!"

"We don't know, the geth just killed our, employer and told us they were taking us to freedom!"

"Me too!"

"Creators, dropships are one hundred meters ahead, upon arrival enter the shuttles immediately as we are running out of time."

"What's it talking about?"

"The imperials, their going to blow up the planet."

"The what!"

The unit had been right, their were a dozen shuttles with hundreds of Quarians being loaded onto the ships. None spoke a word as they shuffled onto the ships and into the seats set up in rows. The trio was the last to load on as the door shut behind them and they found their seats in the last row. A Geth unit walked up and down the aisles, tightening safety harnesses to the quiet squirms of a few.

"All creators stand by for launch, expect major turbulence as imperial combat operations are currently underway."

The Quarians inside began to speak in hushed tones to their closest neighbors while the unit which had been checking seats stood completely still at the end of their aisle. Thankfully this dropship had windows and all could witness the planets growing destruction as they gained higher and higher altitude.

"Kellah, look at the Nos Astra towers, their ablaze!"

"I worked their!"

"So did I!"

All conversation stopped when the first field of debris came into view. Then another and another, growing in tonnage as the shuttle gained higher and higher altitude. When they reached orbit the first dreadnought came into view, the asari ship had been cut in half, its flayed body spewing personnel and debris into the empty void to the dismay of the Quarians abord.

"Do you know how much salvage we could get off that!"

"How could you say that, their were people- Oh my, Kellah, the size of it!"

All eyes were on the grayish moon-sized object coming into view on their screens. It was of artificial construction, the ship, or battle station that was currently orbiting the Asari world of Ilium. Next to it and proudly sporting the symbol of the Empire were the massive dreadnoughts of the imperial navy. Everyone had seen the news about the explosive galactic power rocketing themselves onto the galactic stage, but none had thought this could happen, that someone could build something so big.

"How much element zero"

"How long do you think?"

"How many people?"

Near its northern axis lay a depression which turned into a small dot from here but must have been massive in size. All eyes were on it as the small planetoid began to turn itself on its axis until this depression faced the planet.

"What could they be doing?"

"Someone record this, whatever it is you'd make millions!"

A dull green light began to glow at the center point, then six single dots at the edge of depression came together into a point before a much larger beam of light erupted from the center. The combination of lights fused into a single beam before shooting off from the station into the planet below and captivating everyone aboard. The planet itself ceased to be, where once the home of thirteen billion people had lived now lay an explosion of gargantuan proportions. The shuttle was still flying away when continent-sized chunks of rock and metal began flying past their meager shuttle. 

"Creators before for FTL jump."

"Ancestors guide us."

Was the last thing any of the Quarians said before their shuttle activated its mass effect core and jumped away from the graveyard of billions.


	8. Prey

**Hyperspace April 15th 2332 (Imperial Calendar)**

How many worlds had he seen burn, how many beings from dozens of cultures had he personally eradicated through the sheer might of his powerful battle fleets. Two thousand worlds answered his call, trillions of beings be they human or alien which had served as any should serve for the betterment of their collective species. The aliens might have been slaves but they worked to better their masters, the one and only true rulers of this and any galaxy, humanity. He was an artist of empire making, a master in the choreography of politics and war, expertly maneuvering across a thousand systems as the unwavering tide of his military broke any who dare stand in his way.

Their had been rebels yes, those wishing to break away from the empire, calling for its dissolution or even and the abandonment of his great crusade. They had been weak willed beings, unfit to bear the title of human. Their rebellion had died with them, the first signs of a civil war crushed under the might of his god killer as its first ever usage in the galaxy. No matter, that had been over three decades ago and in that time the universe as he knew it had changed. Now he and every other member of his Galactic Empire stood at the precipice of expansion, the beginning of a new empire which would conquer this galaxy and the next. If it hadn't been for these "reapers" the empire he had built would be finishing its great endeavor but alas, this was his new canvass and he the painter.

Standing on the bridge of the one and only flagship the empire operated, he watched the hundreds if not thousands of ships beside his fly through the blue corona of hyperspace. The bulk of his navy was beside him in this most dangerous hour, ready to make the first strike which was to cripple this galaxies puny response to the Empire's invasion. To think their had been humans in this galaxy willing to back their alien masters, disgusting. This system alliance were nothing more than traitors, a pocket empire that had been willing to submit to their wider galaxy. No matter, they would be shown the error of their ways just as every other alien willing to bare arms against the galactic empire. Word of the destruction of the councils recon ship, the SSV Normandy had reached him several hours ago. The video feeds of his clones massacring the personnel aboard had brought no feelings of disgust or revulsion, only acceptance, the acceptance of a teacher willing to watch their students be shown the error of their ways.

Around him, dozens of officers and sailors punched away at keys and barked orders to the massive fleet, or fleets in this case considering it was made up of the third, second, and first fleets in their entirety. The third, the empires shield, the second, the empires sword, and the first, being the only fleet which held titan class vessels, the emperor's hammer.

Nineteen kilometer long vessels which on their own had subjugated entire star systems, these masterful crafts of imperial engineering were second only to the flagship of the imperial navy. When he had first seen the designs for cush a ship had guessed his admirals to be joking, surely they were not serious about the construction of such a ship capable of such raw power. His chuckling died when he had noticed no laughs had come from any of his highest admirals, only the same stares of men and women willing to go above and beyond for their species. He understood this all to well, and upon looking over the blue prints once again had okayed the project for the one and only shipyard capable of building such a beast.

The mega shipyard, a giga structure capable of building entire fleets within months. This colossal achievement of engineering capable of surrounding an entire star and harvesting its power had pumped out thousands of star destroyers in the great war of conquest. It two largest projects, the colossus and the flagship had taken decades for the empire together enough resources across it worlds. Millions of slaves alongside millions of humans had toiled away and in their hard work, weapons capable of shaking the galaxy had been built. The christening of this ship had been a festival of historic proportions, the view from coruscant forever edged in the minds of all of its people. He himself had been aboard when the moorings had been first unlatched and the seventeen and a half kilometer long object of metal and men began to move under its own power.

A pair of boots tapped onto the command deck, approaching directly behind him and interrupted his study.

"My lord, it is grand is it not?"

"Yes Grand Admiral Bankston, you approach your moment of triumph, are you prepared for the coming action?"

"When the day is done, my lord, the alien will have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, the galaxy will be ours."

"Good then, i shall be off to my other duties then, i will be watching grand admiral."

With that the emperor's visage faded away with the hologram and left a sweating Bankston pondering his every move. To fail now would be to doom the empire during its infancy, seven star systems made up the empire in its entirety and he would not see it fail.

"Sir, five minutes to hyperspace exit point."

"Good, prepare our air wings, and get me Rear Admiral terrance."

**Adri Prime, Location unknown**

Shepard scanned every window, every doorway, and every destroyed vehicle for any sign of life. He'd followed the coordinates over the radio, finding a small village in the center of a long valley it seemed like the perfect spot to hide from the empire for a time. The only problem now was the distinct lack of anything living in the mid sized Asari settlement. He was closing in on the center of the town now, careful to not expose himself for too long he kept to the shadows where his jet black armor could hide him. At the cities center lay a market empty of people, the stalls still holding all the merchandise that was to be sold by its owners. He heard a sizzling coming from one of the outlying stalls and noticed a piece of meat begging to char in a grill.

"That cant be right…"

"Freeze human!"

From every window and behind several stalls, dozens of Asari popped into existence as they aimed every weapon imaginable at the single human. Looking around him, shepard noted just about every merc group imaginable with blues, yellows, and reds dominating the sea of blue skinned asar screaming at him.

"I said put the fucking gun down!"

Shepard calmly broke down the M8 Avenger in his hands and laid the weapon down at his feet, he counted twenty asari aiming weapons at him and knew he had no chance at taking all of them down at once. Once his weapon was on the ground a purple skinned asari wearing the armor of eclipse. She unclasped anymore weapons he had before pulling both of his hands behind his back and cuffing him, while doing this another Asari put a blindfold over his eyes and thwacked him over the head knocking him to the ground. Two Asari sized hands gripped beneath either of his pits and began dragging him, to where he did not know, all he could tell was that it was damp. Water droplets slapped all over him and the natural light of the haveway to something dark and wet.

"Detail has recovered single human male, moving to tempest now."

Sound echoed off the walls of this place, his boots dragging along a pavement floor, he could hear more voices now, all yelling or wailing while an authoritative and familiar Korgan voice broke through the rest.

"All of you pups quiet down, the imperials have not been spotted for at least twelve now and- what the, get that blindfold off of him!"

A pair of thundering footsteps echoed off the concrete toward him while two hands pulled the cloth off and cut his plastic cuffs.

"Shepard! I knew you would make it!"

The Korgan slapped shepards shoulder, throwing him for a second as he rubbed his wrist

"Wrex you old bastard, I knew you would make it, where is everyone else?"

As he spoke the last word he saw a shift in the krogans demeanor, a slight sag of the shoulder and his eyes drooping down.

"Shepard, Garrus and ashley, they, I lost them shepard."

"What happened Wrex?"

A snarl came over wrex's face, a deep anger rising as he began pacing back and forth.

"The imperials ambushed us as we were about to recover a downed pod, it was the one from engineering, must of been adams and whoever else got out. Garrus got the idea of flanking it from two sides of a ravine, imperials were already hounding the survivors and we were going to rescue them. I, i was too slow shepard, my wounds were slowing me down and i wasnt my usual self. I was about halfway up the ravine when i heard Ashley and Garrus scream over the radio and then i saw the flashes. I was too fucking slow Shepard, too fucking slow."

Separd looked around the cavern at the hundreds of Asari filling every square inch of space possible. There were dozens of wounded laid out wherever space was available, all wearing the armor of either the local police or mercenary bands with the telltale wounds of laser weapons scorched everywhere.

"Wrex you said Ashley and Garrus were with you, where's Liara?"

"Right here Shepard."

He hadn't even seen her in the crowd of other wounded, her face unrecognizable from the beauty it had once held.

"Liara…"

There were healing burns everywhere, almost all of her face bearing the harsh wounds of an acid attack. Her eyes held a sadness and so did all the asari around her, she was the only one to bare such horrible wounds.

"Liara, i, i'm so sorry."

"Don't be Shepard, there was nothing you could do about the monster that did this to me."

The memories of that thing holding Liara in a single hand came back, its dripping maw closing on the struggling asaris face. Wrex had recovered his composure now, barking orders off to a number of asari before turning back to shepard.

"Shepard we must speak somewhere private, now. Follow me."

Shepard followed his friend toward the back of the underground storage area, passing hundreds of asari he heard the occasional whisper as people began to realize just who he was.

"Shepard."

"Commander Shepard."

"Spectre."

"The council will save us."

Seeing him filled them with hope, the hope that the council was responding to this crisis and would retake their world. Little did they know that the most advanced ship in citadel space had been boarded and killed, its carcass burning in a random forest east of here. Wrex pushed a door open to a supply room loaded to the ceiling with boxes and crates marked Asari republics military.

"Alright shepard i know it's been three days since we lost the normandy so I'm going to give you the down low on just what is going on here."

Pulling out his omni tool, wrex pulled out a map which highlighted the town and its local area with red lines criss crossing with blue in the outlying forest.

"The red lines mark imperial patrols, the blue are ours, the last imperial patrol passed less than two hours ago. Myself and Liara got here around two days ago and took over as the security chiefs for this settlement as the locals were too busy fighting each other to focus on local security. We've got eclipse, and a dozen other smaller groups of mercenaries acting as the main security force with patrols heading out every couple hours. The platoon you saw up top is the only forces we have above ground as the imperial air patrols going by would quickly notice anything more."

Shepard looked over the map and noticed the rate of imperial patrols was increasing and becoming a hell of a lot more dangerous.

"The imperial patrols, what are they made up of?"

"Stormtrooper platoons, a couple walker variants i've never seen before but look to be packing one hell of a cannon, and their dropships passing by."

"Walkers?"

"Yeah there's only two types we've seen so far, a smaller one holding its rider in the open that moves real fast and a real tall one thats real boxy at the top. Mounts a nose mounted cannon and a gunner up top on a machine gun, all clones."

"And these walkers are going through the forest?"

"Yes, usually working in tandem with each other."

"Well shit, do we have any anti armor?"

Wrex opened a crate behind him marked ARM and pulled out a larger weapon with a top mounted cylinder.

"M-100 greande launcher, ten shot capacity and more than capable of movement killing a citadel military vehicle. We haven't tried it out on the imperials yet but I wouldn't mind trying it out."

Shepard looked over the weapon, a dangerous gleam entering his eye.

"Yeah, time for some payback."

Twenty minutes later shepard, wrex, and two dozen asari lay in ambush positions looking down on the single road leading into the town. Eight of them cradled grenade launchers, their ten shot magazines full of APHE ready to take on the imperial armor. In the distance wrex heard it first, the sound of massive metal legs smashing into the road.

"Their coming, all groups keep your heads on a swivel and hold fire until given the order."

While the elite alliance soldier and battle hardened mercenary kept their cool and calmly waited for the imperials to come down the road, a single asari was sweating bullets and had begun shaking. Nosiga Corora had been apart of the Adri prime based Adri private security for less than three months, the Asari maiden had never once been in combat with this being her first taste of the art of killing. She had seen the videos of imperial soldiers, how they were all clones trained since birth to fight for their empire. She couldn't understand how her planet of millions could fall in days seeing as they were just humans and not asari, the leaders of the galaxy. She cradled her M100 harder as her hands shook and a terrible pounding sound reverberated off the road one hundred meters to her front.

"Hey shut the fuck up, stop acting like a pussy and get a hold of yourself."

She didn't know the other asari in her foxhole, she wore the yellow armor of eclipse

proudly holding a better than thou gait in her step. She held a mantis in her hands, the massive rifle deep in her shoulder while she looked down the sights at the approaching imperials. Looking back to the road her shaking only increased at the size of the massive metal machine marching down the road with two others.

"Everyone hold, wait for them to move another twenty meters."

Her radio spoke. It was the human they had found, commander shepard, the best soldier in the galaxy and the one who had saved the citadel. If he was here then they should be ok, he had taken on an entire geth dreadnought by himself, this must have been nothing for him. The walker trio stopped ten meters before the attack point, the two smaller one's riders dismounting and pulling out binoculars before surveying the town below. They were at the top of the ravine leading into the town around eight hundred meters away, with their chokepoint able to catch the imperials as far away as possible.

The large walkers boxy top began scanning back and forth, the hydraulics of the vehicle audible even from here as the gun box began to move right toward her. Two eye holes with black glass covering it, a gunner up top in the green camo armor with that same image she had seen in all her videos. He was also looking through binoculars, moving with the turret while his gun laid in its pintle mount.

She could feel the imperials eyes gloss right over her, her skin prickled as the binocular device brushed right over her. He had to of seen her, this position was barley hidden in her eyes. Lining up her sights on the large walker, she brought the machine gunner on top right in the center as her finger began to squeeze the trigger harder and harder. To her it looked like the imperial had suddenly pointed right at her, she swore his finger was pointed right at her as her heart began to thump in her ears. The cockpit was pointing right at her, she was about to die, she was about to die! She would not die without a fight! She didn't even notice the thump of the grenade launcher sending a forty millimeter shell down range until it exploded on top of the walker and turned the machine gunner into a spray of flesh and armor.

"Who the hell! Goddamit, open fucking fire!"

The entire ambush part opened fire, sending mass effect rounds and grenades onto the road to their front. Yellow tracer fire bit into the dismounted riders and they responded to the close ambush, one rider falling to the ground with blood seeping out of his armor joints. Everyone stopped when the main walker fire, it dual barreled cannon sending massive laser bolts into two different fox holes full of asari. Within seconds five were dead, grenades impacted off of the side of the machine having little effect as the walker began moving into the treeline blasting away at anything it found. Five dead, seven dead, nine dead, their numbers were falling at a disastrous rate as the walker continued its advance.

"Shepard we need to get out of here!"

Wrex had shot off a dozen rounds already and was reloading his launcher, shepard was doing the same shoving another drum into his weapon and eye balling the approaching machine.

"Shit, everyone fall back, the launchers are having no effect on it, fall back!"

Some responded, others did not, blue biotics covering some of their bodies as they sent biotic attacks at the walker. Shepard was bounding with wrex and a dozen or so other survivors, firing toward the imperials while some fell back farther into the treeline. With their foxholes empty and the enemy running, the walker focused on those standing their ground and within a minute eliminated the last defenders.

Walking among the dead defenders, a single clone trooper kicked over one of the bodies that had covered a foxhole. Her yellow armor had cracked under the heat exerted by an AT-STs cannon, smoking and smoldering her blue flesh. At the bottom of the foxhole, a single blue xeno stared back at him and into the emotionless lenses of his scout trooper helmet. She screamed when he pulled out his pistol and shot four rounds into the bottom of the foxhole, ending the creatures life. He'd captured images of the attackers with two very distinct creatures standing out during the ambush and his attackers retreat.

"Recon party 223 to command, target acquired."


	9. Crippling strike

Spire Nebula April 16th, 2183 (SA Calendar)

Filling the void, thousands of ships bearing the flags of half a dozen navies prepared themselves for battle. Dreadnoughts, cruisers, frigates, and corvettes resupplied and prepared themselves for the coming battle, which many had begun to call the battle for the galaxy. Everyone had seen the videos, every sailor and marine seeing just what and how their future foe had so easily destroyed an entire planet in their genocidal campaign across the stars. Worrying thought were the reports of Geth at Ilium, videos of Geth units rescuing Quarians of all things aboard the doomed planet had made some begin to question just where the loyalties of the fifty thousand strong migrant fleet lay. Everyone aboard the combined citadel fleet had known someone or knew someone affected by its destruction. The cataclysmic shockwaves of such a purely brutal act could not have been felt more than by the members of the Asari fleets in the system.

Batarian, Asari, Human, Salarian, and Turian all banded together in a show of solidarity, mourning the untold billions lost when the planet itself had been cracked. The airwaves of every single news station were jammed pack with the cries of a galactic civilization, the cries of a people asking a single question, why. Why had this empire made of humans of all things, suddenly and deliberately shatter a garden world, conquer an out of the way Asari colony, and for some reason spare a few Quarians? It did not make any sense, for a race so willing to kill billions in a matter of seconds, to spare an estimated twenty-five thousand Quarians. Every talking head possible was busy theorizing just why and how this empire had done it, the scientific idea of cracking a planet had been asked before but never put to use for fear of constructing an arms race. None understood how they had done it until a single video had been uploaded to the greater extranet, in it the cries of Kellish voices spoke at to just what they had found from the inside of a ship escaping Ilium. The camera had panned from the planet to another planet none could recognize as being apart of the Ilium star system. Seconds later they understood just what their minds and eyes could not comprehend, the "planet" was no planet nor was it a moon. A battle station, a weapon of such unimaginable power that at first they could not comprehend such a massive figure of engineering and destruction. A depression near the top of the massive structure angled down until it faced the planet, a continent-sized disc began to light up with differing points of green light until these lines of pure energy came together to form a beam of pure destruction.

This beam shot out from the battle station, impacting on the northern hemisphere of Ilium with an explosion capable of rivaling a sun's light. Every admiral in the fleet now holding just one jump away from Adri prime felt fear, well and truly felt fear at having to face such an enemy capable of building such a monstrous weapon and bearing the will to use such a thing. The majority of the entire galaxies navies, even those who had either pulled out or held sour relations within the citadel had joined together tonight this foe. Batarians rubbed shoulders with alliance, turian fleet commanders conversed with Asari matriarchs, the universe had well and truly come together in this act of war.

Admiral Steven Hackett applauded the galaxy in times like these, seeing old foes put rivalries away in the face of a greater enemy swelled his heart with pride and made him appreciate the alliance of differing states. His mood turned sour though as he read over the plans devised by the combined fleets of the Citadel. Thousands, no ten of thousands would die in the coming battle against the imperial fleet and he was powerless to stop it. There would be no grand strategy in the coming campaign, simply might against might as the two goliaths of the galaxy crushed themselves against each other to determine the future of the galaxy. As soon as a breakthrough was achieved, an invasion force of over three hundred thousand would land planetside and recapture the lost asari world. Thousands of Asari commandos, Alliance Marines, Turian Naval infantry, Salarian STG, and even a few Spectres would defeat the armies of the empire in a battle estimated to take months. The loss of the SSV Normandy had been noted by citadel high command but deemed an acceptable loss, there was nothing that pissed Hackett off more than hearing one of his men be deemed an acceptable loss. He would be sure to recover the lost commander and all of his ground team, big damn heroes all of them deserved better than to die on some asari colony.

"Sir, outer pickets report odd readings coming in from bearing 112, their asking for orders."

"Put it on screen ensign."

The holographic screen in front of his command chair popped up, reading its content he could see the frigates SSV Carentan and SSV Gettysburg pulling picket duty near the outermost sections of his fleet.

"Bring up the sensor data ensign."

"Yes sir."

Gravitational readings were off the chart,s magnetic readings even worse with it somehow detecting metallic objects the size of planet approaching. If he read the largest one right, something seventeen kilometers long was fast approaching and would be here in less than a minute.

"Order the second fleet to the Picketts location, i don't want to get caught flat-footed out there."

"Yes sir, sending orders now."

The second had a dreadnought, eight cruisers, and a dozen frigates all bearing down on that location now. More than enough firepower to deal with anything in his side of the galaxy. The reading only grew higher in higher as the second closed with his two frigates, with two more objects of the same size as before now being registered on his sensors.

"Ensign, sound the call to Citadel Command. We might have them."

"Yes sir."

The call to arms across the thousands-strong fleet was sluggish, with captains and admirals stirring from racks and readying their craft for war. Hacketts bridge was abuzz with activity as officers and crewmen conversed with others across the wider fleet about the incoming unknown. Ten seconds, he held his breath, whatever was about to happen would either make or break the galaxy as he knew it. The object appeared out of nowhere, then another, then a dozen, and then hundreds to thousands of massive grey colored ships dropping out of FTL right before the guns of thousands of citadel ships. Hacket counted four seventeen kilometer behemoths, next to these were eight-kilometer longships with guns stretching from bow to stern, all now aiming at his fleet. None fired, not a single ship across the thousands now arrayed across from him fired while the citadel fleets formed up beside his own and stared down the barrels of what seemed like a million guns.

The bridge which had just been a beehive of activity was silent, not a single soul willing to speak as they gargantuan fleet continued jumping in with numbers reaching two thousand. All knew what was about to happen, they knew what would become of them and everyone they knew aboard the very vessels they crewed. Some prayed, some wept, others accepted their fate before the radio operator broke the silence.

"Um sir, we are receiving a fleet-wide hail from a vessel calling itself the INV Eclipse, Patching on screen now."

The yellow highlighted holographic display appeared before the entire bridge for everyone to see, in it a single human male stood with his back to massive trenches full of hundreds of human working at stations and barking orders. Besides the single white-uniformed human male a stormtrooper everyone had come to know spoke before quickly leaving the screen. Realizing he was live, the human put both of his arms behind his back and put on a smile.

"Hello defenders of the greater Citadel Galaxy, I am Admiral Bankston, the architect of your destruction. Before you is the might of the imperial navy, even now hundreds of ships continue to arrive in system unabated as your sluggish crews respond. Know this before you die, this battle, and all its occupants shall be noted in imperial records. All fleets, open fire."

Hackett couldn't believe it, the arrogance, the pompousness as a single human pulled the trigger that would kill hundreds of thousands.

"Incoming, Brace!"

Thousands traded fire in the span of seconds, Asari, Turian, Alliance, all fired their main guns at a target so massive it was impossible to miss. Mass effect rounds thundered downrange in the literal thousands, the blackness of space interrupted by thousands upon thousands of blue, yellow, and white-hot shells with mere seconds between fire and impact. Hackett's ship the SSV Orizaba shuddered as her kilometer-long cannon threw another shell downrange. The officers of the deck screamed target impacts, others destroyed, some even routing under the withering fire the might of the citadel could dish out. Frigates popped in and out of the field of battle, letting go of a few torpedos before dashing back behind the citadel fleet. Cruiser's fired nonstop beside their bigger dreadnought cousins, carriers flushed their bays of fighters, tens of thousands of spacecraft burning their engines out for the enemy fleet. Hackett listened in on the conversations going through the fleet-wide net as a growing pit grew in his stomach, a pit which then turned into a crater, then a hole capable of pushing a dreadnought through.

"They're not firing, what in the hell?"

Captains of ships across the fleet had now exhausted their thermal banks, too hot to fire the guns themselves had to cool down before they could re-engage and the reason for the imperials stance became clear. With the main power supply aboard citadel fleet ships cooling down their guns, their engines were at near half strength, making them slower and unable too….

"All alliance ships hold fire! Hold your goddamn fire they're baiting us!"

Some listened, most did not. All along the Citadel fleet organized to combat the imperial armadas, ships began discharging massive plumes of heat visible to the naked eye.

"Order the fifth out of here now! This battle is lost!"

"Sir, Citadel fleet command is ordering us to hold formation, they're saying another two minutes and the order to advance shall be given!"

"I don't give two shits what they think, pull us out of here now, push this ship as fast as you can to the relay and tell anyone willing to listen their doomed."

"Incoming!"

The return volley, looked like a sun had suddenly erupted from the front of the fleet. Hackett quietly braced himself on his command chair, readying himself for the coming barrage as his ship turned tail for the relay. The radio operator in a screaming fit of pain tore off his headset, allowing the voices of a thousand captains to enter the bridge.

"Oh, oh, goddess saves us!"

"Hel-"

"Spi-"

Dozens, hundreds, the number of ships which just ceased to exist was no longer measurable as the Orizaba and three dozen ships retreated to the relay. Massive beams of fire leaped past the ship as Imperial gunners tried to take out the fleeing ships.

"All Citadel ships, fall back, i say again run for the relay now!"

They fucked up, command fucked up, no one in their right mind could have guessed this would have happened. Something massive suddenly took up the Orizaba's bridge glass, it was almost unrecognizable in its state but under the flames, burnt metal, and releasing atmosphere, Hackett could pick out just what it was.

"Oh my god, it's the destiny ascension!"

Her captain was burning her engines out in a futile attempt to make the relay, massive chunks of her superstructure looked to be melting off another green beam of energy slammed into her engineering deck, cutting her engines off and throwing the dreadnought right into the path of those fleeing. The SSV Emilia Earhart had just begun its jump procedures when the bulk of the former Asari dreadnought slammed into her hull and destroyed the carrier.

"Oh my god, there had to be three thousand people…"

"Stow in LT, how much longer till the relay!"

"Twenty seconds sir, preparing drives now!"

What had been three dozen was now maybe in the high hundred range, survivors of a fleet which only minutes ago had numbered in the thousands.

"This is Admiral Hackett to all surviving Citadel vessels, regroup at rally point spear, say again rally point spear."

Behind the fast retreating fleet, the forward elements of the imperial navy were just now entering the newest graveyard of the galaxy. There would be survivors of course, those whose ships were only dead in the water but still very much capable of supporting life. These unlucky beings would be brought in, interrogated, and then disposed of just like any other threat to the empire. At the helm of the eclipse, Bankston smirked once more.

"Sir, an estimated two hundred or so vessels leaving through the relay. Casualty count for enemy vessels stands at one thousand two hundred and three."

Keying the fleetwide mic to the untold number of survivors and those fleeing through the relay still, the Grand Admiral gave a single sentence that would send shockwaves across citadel space.

"I am the architect of your destruction, your end has only just begun."

Unknown to him or any other imperial vessel now sifting through the wreckage, a single Salarian ship relayed everything it observed live onto the screens of Citadel high command.

Citadel, Command center April 16th, 2183

Nobody spoke a word, none even moved as the importance of what had just transpired flew across their screens in replays and live-action. Sixty-four percent of the Turian navy, eighty-seven percent of the Asari, twelve percent of the Salarian, and twenty-nine percent of the Systems alliance navy had suddenly ceased to exist. The peacekeepers, the strong men, the military arm of the citadel council had just suffered the worst defeat in, none could even recall something so horrible befalling the Turians. All eyes were wide and glued to the single monitor of a salarian ship that had somehow hidden from the armada before it. Its cameras tracked ship after ship as the fleet moved into the debris field of shattered ships and tens of thousands of corpses. The feed zoomed in a smaller class of warship, comparable to a cruiser the ship had begun sending out shuttles to random wrecks, the reason not becoming apparent until life pods shot away from these vessels.

"Their going after the survivors, how can they, how can they possibly do this!"

"Wait, the salarians are receiving radio, patch it through!"

Coughing then the scratching of a radio mic across the fabric and then the crazed voice of a human sailor, female, screaming into the mic.

"Their coming for us! Anyone still alive out their prepare to defend yourself from boarders!"

Scratching, then the sound of a drill came through the mic to the screams of its user.

"Their drilling through the door, oh god, there's some kind of ship they are using to crack the pods, oh god! Please, somebody, help me!"

Tearing, then pressurization as the outside atmosphere was rushed into the pod, creating an audible seal.

"No stay out, stay the hell out you monsters! Their coming, i can see them through the door now, white armor, humanoid in shape, please help!"

An intercom blared directly into the pod, through it a male voice spoke in slightly accented English.

"Step against the rear wall now, you are now a prisoner of the galactic empire. Make your hands visible at all times."

"Fuck you!"

Three shots, most likely a pistol echoed through the microphone before the mic went dead.

Adri Prime, April 17th 2183

"Quiet down the Vid screen is working!"

Rousing from his power nap, John Shepard rolled over and got to his feet. Stretching out the stiffness in his back that came with sleeping on a camping mattress, the spectre began to move his way toward the voice now directing people to surround the single projector now pointing to the wall. The connection was shotty at first, quickly gaining clarity as just what was being broadcast across the airwaves became clearer to everyone in the room horror. Shepards still groggy eyes didn't fully realize what he was seeing until he rubbed away.

It was the town, the above-ground sections in direct view of wherever the camera was at it began to pan backward, giving away its position. It was somewhere to the southwest, on one of the larger hills directly overlooking the hill and its operator had now fully panned out and turned to the left. Shepard now snapped right out of his sleep-filled state as the seriousness of the problem became apparent.

On a hill overlooking the town, eight walkers of a six-legged variant had readied their massive guns on the town. Their crew, all stormtroopers were busy loading shells and directing other supplies while the camera came to focus on a single trooper wearing a blue livery on his armor. Why this trooper was important he did not know, all he knew was that he was the one giving out orders to every single trooper around him.

"Wrex, Liara, anyone who can hold a weapon, get your shit ready to go now!"

None dare question the spectre, light a horde of rats caught in the light the dozens of former mercenaries sprinted to their gear and began putting on weapons, armor, and ammo. Shepard himself went back to his sleeping back and began placing weapons at their designated slot on his armor, assault rifle, pistol, shotgun, and sniper, all firmly snapped on his back into the places he needed them. He had just finished snapping a pack of heat sink's on his leg when the first shell hit the town above.

The sound of whatever type of cannon it was first came through the audio speakers on the vidscreen, then the thunderous explosion which rattled the soil and earth all around the pipes they were currently in. There were shrikes, cries of fear, only those who had been through combat suffered in silence. People like Shepard, Wrex, Liara, and the mercenaries who had all finished readying themselves for the coming fight bound to happen. Shepard moved back to center stage, meeting the eyes of all around him he knew a rousing speech wouldn't do much for the mercenaries but it never hurt to instill hope in the civilians. One hundred thirteen soldiers were all that stood between victory and defeat, against an unlimited army of the best-bred warriors in the galaxy.

"All of you, every single one of you is a citizen of this town, I've talked to plenty of you to know that if the chance came, you would defend this place to the last."

The roof shook, sending grains of sand and dirt into the air.

"Well that time has come, the enemy is at the gates and now we need you, I need you. They will show no mercy, they will not stop, they will not stop coming until we instill into them the fear you now feel. I've met these bastards and fought them eye to eye, their tough but beatable. We have plenty of arms available, this is why I now call you to defend your homes against this invader. This town relies on you, do not let it fall."

Some nodded, others just stared blankly at the human officer trying to rouse some patriotism out of their defeated minds. Lines began to form in front of the armory, Asari willing to fight rather than sit in the dirt and die. While this was going on Wrex appeared beside Shepard and let out a grunt of disapproval.

"You must realize they're just going to die."

"Yeah, I know."

"Then Why?"

Shepard looked over the faces of those grabbing weapons, grim determination, anger, pride, all of these common on the hundred or so preparing for war.

"The more we fight back, the more we send home in boxes, the less the rest of the galaxy has to deal with. And if it comes to it, this rabble will be a good distraction while we possibly escape."

Wrex shook his head, letting out another ground before speaking.

"That's fucked up Shepard and you know it."

"We have to get back to the council Wrex, warn the fleet before they walk into a trap they can't get out of, and the reapers are still out there. We have to prepare before we're too late and wasting our lives for some shit hole asari backwater is not worth it."

Wrex pondered the commander's answer, for once unwilling to share his opinion as he went off in search of liara.

Adri Prime, April 16th, 2332 (Imperial Calendar)

His blood was rushing, the surge of adrenaline in his veins, the pure ecstasy of doing what he was bred to do. They were going to have a real battle, not some police actions like the invasion had been but a real no holds bar battle. Imperial intel had already done flyovers with UAVs and spotted what looked like hundreds of militia preparing for the coming attack. The artillery had already stopped their bombardment less they create better cover than the defenders already had. Word had it one of the emperor's personal legions had been dispatched to command this joyous event, his blue pauldrons spotted amongst the seas of green everywhere. CT-1157 or Drax rubbed his gloved hands over the barrel of his weapon again, fully aware the Asari across from him was staring. They had caught her on the road march here, the little blue Xeno hiding behind a rock cradling a small pistol as the legions march made the ground rumble.

Fourteen thousand troopers on the march, ready to go, ready to die, always willing to fight a battle and gain the emperor's eye. They said only the best troopers were handpicked to be apart of the emperors legion, those that showed utmost bravery in the field, those who stood out amongst the sea of clones. Drax calmly and methodically rubbed the receiver, fleeing the paint chip away under his gloves as it had done for years now. Most of it was gone near the action, rubbed off to reveal the blueing beneath it. Finally, he would use it again, on an enemy willing to hold a static defense and able to fight to the death. An enemy that could move objects with their mind and create mini black holes, an enemy like the shaking xeno across from him.

"You Xeno, are you from this town?"

They were on one of the hillsides overlooking the small town. On it thousands of clones and zones of walker prepared themselves for the coming battle as officers went over plans presented firing solutions for the artillery. The "Asari" had been tied to a tree in all of this mess, left in his care until the ISB agents responsible for her came back.

"Yes, please I just want to go home.."

When word had come down that a two trooper had been killed in an ambush on the road leading into the town, the troopers who had captured her had been less than gentle in bringing her in.

"Your friends, are they willing to die for this town, as you had been in that little ambush of yours?"

"I, I don't know, i'm just a maiden please."

"CT-7372K and CT-7373K."

"What?"

"Those are the troopers who died in your ambush, they have fulfilled their duty to the empire. I will do the same one day, but before I am to die I will take as many of your kind as i can with me."

"Sergeant Drax!"

His squad was approaching, his brothers who he had served with for years on countless worlds. "Sergeant, orders just came down from command, were to leave within the hour."

"And what of the Asari?"

"Her service are no longer required, per commander Keller."

"The Emperor's legionnaire?"

"The one and only."

The Asar hadn't heard a word of the conversation, nor about her coming demise. Drax held no care for this creature, his mind was currently other places and required no thought in placing his barrel toward her and pulling the trigger. They were going to war, and he was in his happy place.

First defensive line, Shepard's bunker.

"Okay everyone, ready yourselves. Second-line do you copy."

"We hear you commander, but we've just lost contact with our OP to the west."

"Keep your eyes out, OP bravo do you copy?"

Silence.

"OP Charlie, do you copy?"

"Charlie here commander, nothing so far."

It was quiet, too quiet for an army on the literal horizon to suddenly go silent. Three hundred and two, that was all that stood between them and the enemy now. Shepard kept scanning, looking over possible entry routes and going over his escape plan for when the battle met its climax. The loss of OP Bravo already was disconcerting, the clones were showing their hand in taking out the eastern OP.

"OP Charlie, what do you currently see?"

"Nothing commander, wait let me grab the-Shit! They just took out Nerixes, we have a sniper commander! Oh, goddess, her brains are everywhere and Ah!"

The line went dead, there goes the west he thought.

"All lines, if they're coming, their coming now, prepare to defend yourselves."

This was too much like Elysium, this last man shit had never been his style. It had been forced on Elysium but his odds then had not been nearly as bad as they were here. At least then he knew reinforcements had been on the way.

"This is bunker four, I've got clones in the open moving toward us to the south, orders?"

"Wait for them to close to within one hundred the open fire."

"Yes, commander."

Untrained militia, mercenaries, and two friends, terrible odds but he would make sure they made it out. Rifle fire began cracking off to the south, the defenders made up of mostly militia, they wouldn't last long.

"Shepard, what's our exit strategy?"

"As soon as we find a break in imperial lines, we break for it."

Wrex huffed, putting a pair of binos to his eyes while he spoke.

"Hell of a plan Shepard, Liara are you alright?"

Liara was busy fiddling with her omni tool, recording everything in her meticulous notes as events transpired around her.

"Yes wrex, and thank you for asking. Commander, what about Garrus and Ashely? And Tali for that matter?"

Shepard could and would not ever forget those two, one his best friend, the other, maybe something a little more. Then there was Tali, still becoming an adult when he had signed her onto his crew and taken her across the galaxy in the hunt for Saren. She had been captured by the imperials and he couldn't fathom where she was.

"I don't know Liara, but I hope they are all ok."


	10. Meeting

Citadel, Serpent Nebula April 16th, 2183

The mood was a somber one, gone where the energetic shouts or the loud conversation with those who deemed themselves more important than they were. In their place, dozens upon dozens of reporters simply stood quietly. Waiting on the words of the four most powerful, or too many of the galaxy, formerly most powerful ever to command it. The only sounds were those of muted conversation or the clinking of feet upon the marble floors. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the council chambers opened and the council itself walked the small distance to their podiums.

The Asari councilor Tevos was the first to speak, clearing her throat the middle-aged Asari looked like she hadn't slept or eaten in days.

"Citizens of the citadel, and members of the wider galaxy, the time for war is upon us. We were fools to believe we could simply stamp out what to our intel estimates was nothing more than a lost human colony, we were wrong, so unbelievably wrong. Therefore, this ruling body is declaring a galactic emergency in dealing with the Galactic Empire. We call upon all nations and states signed onto the Citadel charter to pledge themselves to defeat this extragalactic threat-"

"We already fucking did you bitch! And now our boys are sucking vacuum because of your fuckup!"

Attention turned toward the rear of the room, where a single human wearing the uniform of an alliance lieutenant commander stood proudly. Medals dotted his chest for valor and gallantry, campaign stripes dotted his arms left and down, he was the model of what every officer wanted to be, and now he had just insulted the council.

"How can we send any more of our troops to you when all you do is send them down the meat grinder, where are the asari, where are the Salarians? Why is it always the Turians and humanity bearing the brunt of your screw up Asari!"

"C-SEC, where is C-SEC!"

Two Asari guards quickly grabbed the human by the arms, attempting to pull him out of the room the C-SEC officers could not shut his mouth on the way out.

"I hope the empire burns you all! I hope all of you die for what you did to my boy!"

When the doors to the room slid to a close, the Asari continued her speech. One turian reporter, in particular, droned out the council's call for war, rather he was more interested in the alliance officer pulled out of the room. Quietly excusing himself among the dozens of other reporters, the middle-aged turian made his way into the hall right outside where the same officer was currently being roughed up by the two Asari C-SEC officers. He moved slowly to not garner any attention, in a close off hallway like this he could see why the Asari officer could conduct themselves any way they wanted back here. With a swift kick to the face, one of the Asari then spit onto the bloodied man slumped against the wall.

"That'll teach you to try some of that shit again, you hear me ape? I catch you in here again and I'm pumping you full of holes for the public's good, who's the bitch now?"

The turian reporter, named Cherrus snagged a few photos of it all while also recording it with his omni tool. This would get so many views back at the station, he could already see the headline now.

ASARI COUNCILOR USES C-SEC AS DEATH SQUAD

Slipping away, the two Asari security officers were none the wiser.

Adri Prime, April 16th, 2332

It began with a shout, a single asari along the defensive line to the east spotting a stormtrooper advancing less than one hundred meters away in the thick foliage. She was one of the militias, untrained and cradling a weapon meant for the battlefields of the terminus. Her first shot went wide, impacting ten meters away from her target who had now triangulated her position exactly. Her second shot went five meters to the left, she was about to fire a third when a crimson red bolt impacted center mass and threw her fragile frame to the bottom of the shell hole she had taken cover in. Then the battle began.

Screams of aircraft flying into the valley, their X shaped design backlit by the sun's light as they thundered overhead and released their glowing purple cargo. A charge crashed onto the road leading into the town, at its front the two-legged walkers Shepard had ambushed earlier along with a dozen smaller ones racing between their legs. Shepard could barely keep up with the radio as calls came in from all across the perimeter of hundreds of troopers smashing themselves across the entire font.

"This is OP beta, we need help!"

"Defensive line bravo, it's just, it's just got fucking vaporized!"

"Help us!"

Shepard pushed these voices out of his mind, leaving them to their fates as he listened in on who was not under attack at the moment.

"Shepard dropships incoming."

"Where?"

"Bearing two ninety, these are different from the others, blue stripes on the side it looks like."

What could that mean?

"They're coming in for landing right in the town square, three of them and if I'm seeing it right their chock full of clones."

"Fuck, alright let's move then. OP hotel has not reported anything."

The duo crawled out of their hiding place on the upper floor of a two-story apartment building and crept their way down the stairs. On the way down the stairs creaking under the Krogans weight, the walls shook as another pass of bombers went by, throwing dust everywhere.

"Liara, two coming down."

"Yes Shepard, movement toward the center of town. I Spotted four troopers all in white armor with blue stripes."

Fuck they were fast.

"Alright then, well go out the back and curve around the town, there we'll make out exfil through the imperial lines."

"Alright Shepard, lead the way."

One hundred meters away.

Drax had just let loose another burst into a fleeing Asar, grinning under his helmet he kept his squad of brothers in perfect cohesion as they cleared the town. A full legion versus this was a pub stomp, nothing more than a training exercise in his mind. Orders were to exterminate, allow none to survive to show just what happened when the alien dare defy their masters. They were currently inbound to a target the drones had highlighted as possibly holding the HVI and his friends. The traitor responsible for torturing a fellow clone, for this he would pay.

"Stack up, two prepare a breaching charge."

The squad's engineer pulled out two rolls of flexible tape. Applying them to the outside of the door, the clone slapped the last piece into place while the rest of the squad stacked up.

"Three, two, one, breach!"

Two clacks and the explosive tape went off, Drax was the first into the doorway and was the first to catch the retreating back of a human in black armor.

"Traitor!"

The human in question turned back all wide-eyed before pulling his rifle up and firing a burst into drax. He felt one impact his left arm, cutting through the thin bodysuit underneath while the rest impacted all along his armor. Drax, knowing this particular person had a capture order on his head did not fire. Jumping into an open doorway had quickly keyed the mic.

"This is Hunter seven, positive ID on objective N7, say again, positive ID on objective N7 in quadrant twelve. We are pursuing."

"Negative Hunter seven, stand down."

What? Why….

"Say again last control, did you say?"

"Stand down hunter, we are vectoring elements of the Emperor's legion to that local, corner the HVI if possible."

The emperors legion, that could mean only one thing. The emperor himself wanted this human, good then.

"Roger that control will corral."

Shepard had nearly shit himself when the door behind him had exploded and a stormtrooper came rushing in. Firing a burst he watched the unnamed trooper launch himself into an open doorway while another three broke into the doorway. Seeing this as a no-win situation, Shepard sprinted out the house behind his two teammates, tossing a grenade in just before leaving.

"Clones behind us, Run!"

All three took off at a dead sprint, behind them Shepard could hear the footfalls as clones came out of the building they had come from and into the alley. Wrex had point, then it was liara and then Shepard as the trio traversed the maze of buildings and walkways typical of any Asari town. A clone burst out of a building to their front followed by two others, Wrex didn't care. The Krogan battlemaster overloaded his shotgun and let off his two rounds into the group, dropping them in sprays of metal and fire. All three went down with small holes in their armor flowing blood, Shepard was the last to jump over one of the bodies just as it sent a hand up, catching his knee and tripping him.

"Get off me you fucker!"

Looking down at his leg, he could see the eyepieces of the clones helmet had been blown off in the blast and the bloody orbs staring back into his. It, as it was an it to Shepard and nothing more, was gurgling as it choked on its blood. Shepard placed the barrel of his M8 right in the face and let off a five-round burst. The hand went limp, picking himself up, he took off after both of his friends who were now in a firefight with a fireteam of clones. They were at a turn behind the buildings, a dead-end which led straight to one of the main roads of the village. Wrex held his weapon out, only putting it in harm's way and fired off a two-round burst down the street.

Shepard peeked down the side street and saw four troopers in varying states of cover, blocking their escape from the city.

"Shepard, we need to move or those clones are going to catch up!"

"I know, lest waste these shit heads then move, I'm prepping a frag!"

"Alright, Liara let's suppress!"

Wrex and Liara leaned over the corner, the Krogan laying down two rounds while Liara emptied her predator's entire mag. Shepard chucked the grenade around the corner, bouncing the device off the wall of the building and into the center of the group of clones. Shepard ducked back just as the grenade went off throwing dust toward the citadel team. Wrex was the first to recover, leaning around the corner the Krogan let out a grunt before advancing. Shepard followed behind and saw the damage he had inflicted.

Two were already dead, limbs missing and chunks of gore splattering all over their armor as a growing pool of red blood flowed from their bodies. Next came a half-alive one missing only his arm and currently working on the stump with a small container of what looked like their version of medigel. Upon seeing the duo approach the clone went for his weapon and earned a dual burst as both Shepard and wrex shot him. The clone's weapon clattered to the ground just as the final trooper came into view. Shrapnel fragments must have pierced the thin slits between his armor plates where his black undersuit showed underneath. Dragging himself against a concrete wall as Shepard approached, the Spectre kicked away the trooper's weapon before putting his sights on the man himself.

The clone's hands went to his helmet, the audible hiss of depressurization as he pulled it off his head and allowed a sea of blood to fall out. It was the same face Shepard had seen before, a birth number tattooed on the side of the head and the same brown eyes staring into his. Except for once the eyes full of hatred and anger held something else, fear. The clone before him was afraid, as blood rushed out his mouth and the signs of a sucking chest wound became apparent, Shepard decided enough was enough.

"Have anything to say?"

"I don't want to…"

Not letting him finish, Shepard fired a single round into the Clones skull, ending the things life. Turning to move toward the street, Shepard did not notice the stares of both Wrex and Liara.

Drax and his squad were hot on their tails, already they had passed a trio of dead troopers and had just heard an explosion to their front. Al across the town the entire legion was on high alert for three Xenos attempting to break through their lines an escape. The emperor's legionnaires were all over the net, triangulating the target's movements with dozens of squads and platoons. A LAAT equipped with thermals flew across the sky, tracking the team as they made their way past yet another clone fireteam. Brothers dead, brothers who he did not know other than that they were apart of his legion. He would pay, this Shepard would pay dearly.

"Move up!"

Ten stormtroopers jogged in two columns up the alleyway, uncaring of his wounds Drax led from the front as always.

"Used heat sinks on the ground ahead Sergeant."

"Hunter seven to control, were on their tail over."

"Roger Hunter, Commander Traken is following you with the LAAT, continue your chase for now over."

Turning the corner, Drax's brain took in the situation and only got angrier. An entire fireteam down most likely due to a grenade. A brother executed with his helmet off, his lifeblood still draining from his face.

"Let's move!"

Shepard ran, this was no longer a quick getaway but a full out sprint toward anywhere away from here. Everywhere he looked, he saw clones, the sky with bombers screaming overhead, the streets where squads of clones held their ground, imperial forces controlled every square inch of this town. So why haven't they converged and killed us yet, he thought. If he went down certain streets, the clones would advance and force them further toward the center of town. If they stopped, massive walkers would suddenly appear and blaze them with red fire. Nowhere they went to work, it was as if….

"Were being corralled."

Shepard came to a full stop behind a downed air car, Wrex and Liara stopped beside him, eating and drinking anything they had during this quick break.

"What makes you think that Shepard?"

"Their making us go where they want us to go, we haven't seen any Asari for the last ten minutes, I just don't understand why."

Liara peeked out over the aircar before coming back down and giving her own two cents.

"They just want us to do something, somebody is controlling this chain of events, somebody with the power to throw clones away as if they were nothing."

"Somebody high ranking then, and a juicy piece of intel to bring back to the council."

"Shepard, i don't think were going to be getting back to the council anytime soon."

The voice of defeat coming from Wrex was new, but the dozens of new scars across his body attested to the fact that he spoke with conviction.

"Look around Shepard, notice something?"

Taking the cue, Shepard scanned the surroundings but could not find just what Wrex wanted.

"Before you got here, there were two thousand people in this town. Now I don't see a living soul except clones. The game has changed, we aren't fighting a rogue spectre anymore or his army of machines. Were fighting real blood, soldiers bred for this shit, and already we've seen just how far they will go."

As if to emphasize his point, one of the dropships they had seen for an hour now began to circle their position.

"I'm an old Korgan Shepard, and you know what, I'm not dying for some citadel schmuck, and neither will anymore Krogan."

Wrex stood up, looking at the circling shuttle and threw his weapon down the street. The Krogan began walking toward where they had come from while Liara and Shepard only stared at his back, aghast at just what their team members had done.

"Wrex, Wrex what the fuck!"

Wrex acted like he didn't hear a thing, continuing his march down the street with the dropship now following the Krogan.

"Wrex, I will shoot you for cowardice!"

"Take it to the council Shepard, I'm not fighting their wars anymore! I'm not seeing any more of my friends die!"

Of all the people to lay down their guns and give up, Wrex had been the last on Shepard's list.

"Wrex!"

The Krogan turned a corner and was gone. Shepard just stood there, weapon in hand as one of his best friends had just walked away, a friend who had seen him through thick and thin, just walking away.

"Shepard, we can't stay here, I'm sorry but we have to go."

Choked up, Shepard brought his weapon up and tried to regain his cool.

"Ok, let's go Liara."

Drax and his squad had been ordered to hold back, their advance closing too fast with the fleeing traitor. Now they were held up just a street over, sitting in a defensive formation for the go-ahead to deal with the Shepard.

"Hunter seven, COC."

"COC go."

"Hunter seven, you have one Xeno approaching your local, detain the subject over."

Detain….Detain the Xeno…..Disgusting.

"Roger COC, Lad's prep some cuffs. We have an Alien to arrest."

Coming around the intersection to their front, a single large reptilian began slowly walking toward them. It had red armor and scars everywhere he could see, a lot of them looking like laser burns from imperial weapons. The reptilian eyes locked with his helmet as he got up and stood in the middle of the road. The Alien stopped ten feet away, its eyes scanning over the ten clones cradling weapons aimed in its direction. The alien gave a huff, then raised both of his arms in the universal sign of surrender.

"I will no longer fight the Citadels war, I surrender."

Holy shit. Drax approached the beast, stopping a step short and looking the alien up and down.

"Troopers cuff him, what is your name and how do you speak English?"

"Names Wrex pup, and I've met many humans and even a clone."

Two troopers pulled either arm down and snapped the cuffs into place.

"COC to hunter Seven, transport subject too…"

Migrant Fleet, QSV Rayya April 16th, 2183

To say tensions were high in the migrant fleet would be an understatement. First, there had been the galactic power seemingly coming out of the shadows and destroying an entire Asari armada in minutes. Then came ilium and the reports of Geth that for some reason we're rescuing Quarians stuck in servitude all over the planet and calling them, creators. Just that word, Creator, spoken through the onboard mics of the Geth had sent shockwaves through the entire migrant fleet. The Admiralty was divided, the conclave couldn't stop speaking or discussing the situation for any real movement to be made and in it all a father worried for his daughter.

"Rael, Rael are you listening!?"

Rael Zorah had been the first Quarian to hear about this new Galactic empire, an entirely human nation xenophobic to the core that was somehow beating back the citadel. Don't get him wrong, it was good to see the elitist getting their asses handed to them for once but the way the empire had just brushed away an entire Asari fleet had been, concerning. Then came ilium, and the video of an entire planet being cracked under the massive power of a moon-sized battle station. Billions upon billions of people gone in seconds as their planet broke around them was the worst fate he could have ever thought of for the home of legal slavery.

The damned Geth he thought, how did they know. How did they know to be their at that exact moment and somehow converse with the empire to give them enough time to save their creators. Furthermore where in Rannochs name did they take them?

"Rael Zorah!"

Pulling him out of this mind-boggling were the voices of the entire Admiralty board screaming his name. Han'Gerrel, Daro'Xen, Zal'Korris, and Shala'Ran, were now staring straight at him as he mulled over the events that had transpired in only days.

"Rael, are you ok?"

Shala had always been nice to him, a good friend of his late wife she had cared for Tali while he had been at work, creating a future for her.

"Yes, yes, just worrying about my daughter, the SSV Normandy has been lost on the Asari world of Adri Prime."

"To the empire?"

Han asked, always the hothead the heavy fleet admiral had called for a full out mobilization of every single quarian possible in case of war.

"Yes, the ship was lost over the planet to imperial borders, but there were reports of escape pods."

"I'm sorry Rael, but if they have already killed an Admiral's daughter then this call for nothing but absolute war!"

"Will you be quiet you simpleton! He may have already lost his daughter and here you are using it to go to war!"

Zal, always the peaceful type had been calling for negotiations for the past several hours. He did not want the fleet siding with anyone, more inclined to just sit out and watch, the Pacifist admiral had been debating heavily with Han all day.

"Im sorry Rael, but we must put the fleet before any single Quarian."

"I know Zal."

"Then if we are past these semantics, we must decide our stance on the Galactic Empire."

Daro'Xen, the cold calculating scientist was never one for emotions and would not be starting now.

"The Empire has just beaten back the combined fleets of the citadel council, including the turians if any of you noticed. By my calculations, fifty percent of the galaxies fleet just ate it one jump away from Adri Prime. If that is not throwing your helmet in a spin then I do not know what will, their superior technology, along with their inclination towards war tell us they are no strangers to throwing off galactic powers. If we are to meet this head-on we cannot sit on the sidelines, but at the same time, we can't just throw ourselves helmet first into war. We must decide on where we see ourselves in a possible, imperial controlled galaxy."

Gasps from every audio speaker in the room. They had thought about it of course, in their minds going over such a ridiculous possibility but none had dared to think that in only weeks the citadel would be rendered defenseless and ready to be toppled. A government which had stood for millennia, gone within weeks, insanity.

"Daro, you can't be serious."

"I am Zal, we cannot sit here and squabble like children anymore, the time has come to make a decision. Do we side with the citadel, or the empire if they will even speak to us."

Siding with the empire sent chills down everyone's spine, the xenophobic government with fleets outmatching the entire galaxy was certainly a force to be reckoned with.

"Has anyone that we know of actually met this emperor of theirs?"

Shala, always the one to find a middle ground in the most heated of discussions. Looking around the circular table, it was obvious none of the Admirals had seen this "emperor." Zal was the first to mouth his points again when a marine entered the chamber out of breath.

"Admirals, I am sorry but, I know you said not to be disturbed and."

"Out with it Marine!"

"The Empire is here!"

INV Disturbance, April 16th, 2332

"Sensors read fifty thousand ships and counting Captain. Also, we are being hailed from over ten thousand ships who are currently vectoring on us from every direction possible, some demand our surrender while others demand to know why we are here."

"Diplomacy, I never did like diplomacy. Send for the ambassador, I do not wish to speak to these aliens."

"Yes, sir."

Captain Otti Hundruk ha served the empire honorably for twenty years now, all the way from ensign to captain he had a dozen campaign under his belt from three different wars. A single scar cut his face from left to right across his mouth and cheeks, always there to remind him just what the alien was deep down, an animal to be culled and nothing more. Though he hated it, he was to be the one commanding the first imperial expedition near the terminus, the objective, to take a diplomat and a special package to win over the largest fleet in the Citadel galaxy. Looking upon the "Fleet" it did not seem all that big, he had seen bigger during the Birnathi campaign when they had taken down a fallen empire that had gotten too uppity.

"The Alien will be reminded of its place, no matter."

"Excuse me, Captain?"

And there was the unending pain entering his skull again, the imperial ambassador sent from the ISB. Turning to face the man himself, the Imperial Captain could barely hide his disgust on his scarred face. He didn't look to be over twenty-five but with gene therapy who knows, the ISB agent acting as an ambassador was said to be one of the best made. His file was almost completely blacked out, dozens of covert operations both at home and abroad under his belt and in times like these, his skills were needed most. ISB agents were always pompous fools, never changing in their annoying ways.

"Captain, I will require a platoon of troopers to accompany me aboard the Quarian vessels."

"They haven't even given us clearance yet."

"They will, oh when I send a certain image a father will do anything to bring his child home. Communications officer!"

"Yes sir!"

The ISB agent threw a hard drive into the trench below him, the officer in question catching it with mild annoyance.

"Transmit this information to the QSF Rayya, Captain i believe it now falls upon you to guide us in."

"Transmitting now Sir."

QSF Rayya

The admirals threw open the doors and ran into the bridge of their people's flagship, officers screamed orders back and forth as the room turned into chaos.

"An entire fleet!"

"It's a single ship!"

"Incoming transmission from the imperial dreadnought!"

"Everyone shut your mouths!"

The voice of Admiral Han'Gerrel broke over anyone else's, and in doing so commanded them to be silent. Three dozen Quarians now stared at the five Admirals in charge of their entire species as the imperial ship closed with theirs.

"Bring the transmission on screen, now!"

A single image broke out on the holographic screen, showing a very familiar purple suited Quarian beside two stormtroopers in handcuffs. A cry came from Rael'Zorah's audio speaker as he rushed to the screen.

"My daughter, my baby Tali, what do they want, why would they send this!"

"Admirals, incoming hail from the Imperial vessel."

The comms officer could barely keep the nervousness in his voice from breaking past his semi calm demeanor.

"Accept the hail, let's see just who we are speaking with."

Replacing the image of a Quarian in cuffs, a human in a crisp white uniform appeared seemingly in the middle of straightening his uniform. Realizing he was on, the human smiled before going to attention and speaking.

"Ah, hello, I am Ambassador Frelus Yuken of the Galactic Empire. I wish to speak with.."

"Where is my daughter you Bosh'tet!"

The human was not taken aback at all by Raels outburst, rather a predatory look entered his eyes and he found just who he wanted to speak with.

"Good, Admiral Zorah and I'm guessing the rest of the Admiralty board is here then. Your daughter was captured aboard a vessel attacking an imperial star destroyer. Per imperial regulation, she would have been executed but the emperor in his grand wisdom had seen to it that she is to be released to her people as a sign of goodwill."

"And you bring her in a dreadnought?"

"This is a ship of the line, typical of any imperial fleet. A dreadnought is, well, she's about seven times the size."

Nobody believed he was lying.

"My emperor wishes to build diplomatic bridges between our two peoples, the times are changing and he wishes to build allies in this ever-dangerous galaxy."

"Yes, um, can you give us around five minutes to debate this."

"Of course, we shall hold our current station, goodbye Admirals."

With the video feed cutting, all five admirals converged in the center of the room.

"Were out of time, all those in favor of meeting with the empire."

"Aye."

"Aye."

"Nay."

"Nay."

Zal'Korris and Daro'Xen held the ayes, Shala'Ran and Han'Gerrel the nays, the last vote, and the tiebreaker was emotionally distraught Rael"Zorah.

"Im sorry Shala, but I will do anything for my daughter, even if it dammed the universe, aye."

"Then the ayes have it, comms officer inform the imperials…"

Twenty minutes later, Rayya Shuttle bay.

"Here they come, ancestors that ship is huge."

Five Admirals and forty marines crowed the shuttle hangar designated to receive the imperial delegation. An entire platoon of Quarian Marines stood at attention behind the fice admirals, patiently waiting for the imperial ship as it entered the mass effect fields. It had three wings which were barely able to enter a hanger not meant for its design, all of these folded as its landing gear came out of its belly with a distinct hiss. With the engines powering down, a ramp situated right below the cockpit began to descend and the Quarian migrant fleet got its first look at imperial diplomacy.

Twenty stormtroopers in two ranks of ten marched out of the craft in perfect sync, their shiny white armor almost glistening in the light. Same height, same build, if the reports were right these were the clones of the imperial army. Bred to be the best warriors ever made, the ones who had conquered an entire world in a week. When the clones finished their march, all twenty tuned to face toward each other as another person, this time a regular human made his way down the ramp. It was the same human as before, still, in his white uniform, a simple plaque with six squares was now clipped to his left breast. Following behind the human, and to the dismay of every Quarian present, a purple suited Quarian walked in cuffs while being escorted by two stormtroopers.

"Daughter!"

The Quarian perked up at hearing the familiar voice, scanning the room until her glowing eyes fell upon her father. Before Rael could run to his daughter, Han grabbed him and held him in his place by the back of his suit.

"Greetings, we are the Quarian Admiralty."

"I Am Shala'Ran Vas Tonbay."

"I Am Han'Gerrel Vas neema."

"I Am Zal Korris Vas Qwib Qwib."

Rael was almost certain he heard a snicker from one of the stormtroopers.

"I am Daro'Xen Vas Moreh."

"And I am Admiral Rael'Zorah Vas Rayya, Father of Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya."

"Hello, I am Markus Friken, Ambassador of the galactic empire. I come to you today to extend a diplomatic request and to return the daughter of a Quarian Admiral."

Markus gestured the stormtroopers forward with Tali who marched the Quarian to him. Undoing her cuffs the undercover ISB agent bent over and whispered something into her ear before letting her go. The Quarian moved to her father, giving him a small hug before standing behind the rest of the admiralty.

"So, shall we speak here or?"

"We have a meeting room reserved, please follow us." The Admiral led the way with four marines following them through a door at the rear of the room. Markus silently marked two troopers to follow him while another four Quarians took up the rear. Nobody spoke as they traversed the old ship, its age obvious to Markus with all the scratches and wearing paint everywhere. Five minutes of awkward silence later, the group arrived at the meeting room where all the respective leaders entered, leaving behind their security details to stay behind in the hallway. Kal Reeger was one of these marines and was currently eyeing the motionless stormtroopers up and down while they all stood their awkwardly. Built into his suit his comms began to squawk with the marines around his asking questions.

"Do you think their really humans under there?"

"I heard their clones, so i guess their human just engineered."

Their weapons did not look all that different, black and heavy looking, they sported a small scope and a wire stock that could be unfolded. Kal stood right across from one of them in front of the door to the meeting room. For a race used to displaying their emotions in the physical form, he could not detect a single emote of emotion from the two troopers. Just the cold, black stare as he looked into their eyepieces.

Wanting to break the tension in the room, Kal took it upon himself to speak first.

"So, what're your names? I'm Kal'Reegar Migrant Fleet Marines."

Nothing. Neither clone gave a physical or audio response, maybe they were machines under theirs.

"Told you they were machines."

"Fucking synthetics-"

"CT-3056T."

"CT-3498P."

"Numbers, designations then?"

"Yes."

"Alright, well, got any cool stories?"

One Stormtrooper's head turned to the other, no noise could be heard and Kal released why he hadn't heard anything.

"Their speaking on internal mics like us, that's why we can't hear them."

"So we look like."

"Idiots, yes."

"You want a story?"

"Sure."

"We've got enough time, the diplomats are going to take their time in doing anything really, guess that does not change in any universe. Our story begins three hundred years ago on a planet called earth…"


	11. Captured with a history lesson

QSF Rayya, April 16th, 2332

"Our story begins in a time before the emperor, before the empire itself. Humanity was a collection of squabbling nations, vying for natural resources on a planet undergoing climate change due to their stupidity. Wars were common, famine, drought, billions of people on a single rock out in the greater universe just trying to live. But conflict, war will always rear its ugly head and find a place to rest. By the year twenty-thirty, humanity had finally constructed a permanent base on the moon, titan, and mars as the powers at be began to scrounge up any assets they had left threw them into one last shot at surviving a dying world. Millions of people left their species birth world for the new colonies, leaving behind billions to squabble in the dirt.

On the moon colony of New Washington, stories tell of being able to look out the dome's glass to watch nuclear detonations light up the night sky. Earth died in the year twenty thirty-four, nine billion people going up in mushroom clouds across the entire planet as the old nations of earth killed themselves off."

"Keelah."

"For years the planets only life were those that had escaped to bunkers or lived in places remote enough to not be touched by the radioactive winds that killed off any organic tissue. Great cities whose names now only exist in history books, crumbled under the weight of time. Nations which had stood for hundreds of years ceased to exist, the people of earth were no longer American, English, Russian, or Chinese, they were human. Humans fighting for their very existence every day as the ever-present danger of just walking outside reminded them of their ancestor's stupidity. The colonies of the solar system would mount expeditions back to the home planet every decade or so, some reclaiming some momento of human culture or engineering. Others ending in death and destruction as outlaws or governments that somehow still existed in need of supplies fought them for everything they had.

These were the dark times, when man devolved back into his most basic form of the beast, fighting for scraps, where the smallest inconvenience could lead to death. Hundreds of years of evolution, gone in decades due to the rash behavior of a single generation. Unknown to those on earth though, they were not alone in this universe and in twenty fifty-six, an alien government known as the Otaga Cartel made their presence known to the newly cemented human federation of colonial states. This HFOC was the first government that had united all three colonies, one billion humans rallied behind a single flag when the first alien vessel entered the sol system and broadcast its intentions.

They had come for slaves, hundreds of thousands of slaves and nothing more as their empire already held a dozen worlds. These slavers were the first galactic entity the human race had ever known, and they were here to enslave us. The negotiations were short to say the least, they cracked our main language easily enough and demanded we hand over a hundred thousand people as a tribute to our new overlords. Some more weak-minded individuals agreed to this, preparing themselves and everyone they knew to become slaves for an alien empire for the greater good of humanity.

This is when the emperor first made his appearance to humanity, it came as a shock to every single human in the HFOC when the call for war did not come from Mars, Luna, or Titan, but rather Earth. A single call across the greater net for war, a call to arms so powerful that those spineless enough to willingly walk into the alien ships decried it as nothing more than ghosts. The Emperor, his age is unknown but estimated to be around thirty-four at the time, he had survived on his own in the hellscape that was earth. Through determination, grit, and political tinkering he had become a leader of a massive underground complex underneath former Washington DC in the old America and had listened as the colonies sent out before humanity's downfall sold themselves out to alien masters.

Outraged at this, the Otaga cartel fleet veered off from the three human colonies and burned out their engines for this mere mortal who would dare offend their great union. In orbit, they bombarded the already dead world, for one entire year a fleet of two dozen ships fired everything they had at this world in the hopes of killing this voice of dissent. By years end they believed themselves triumphant, that they were the masters of the galaxy and would conquer all through sheer might. Byt the tens of thousands, the Otagans landed on earth's corpse and began spreading out to find the massive bounty put on the emperor's head.

Now space travel or just strapping a rocket to something and throwing it into space was not new to the people of earth. For more than a century, all manner of satellites or spacecraft were shot into space in the first stages of humanity's ascendancy to the stars. One century later, and its atmosphere was cluttered with hundreds if not thousands of old, decaying spacecraft with either no power or simply forgotten by its makers. The two dozen Otagan ships had kept their geosynchronous orbit while their ground troops touched dirt on humanity's birthplace, their crews overconfident in their ability to bombard a planet hadn't noticed as dozens of pieces of this space junk began moving under their own power for the alien ships in orbit.

No one on earth had ever seen an Otagan, and no pictures from that time exist as their time left in the universe was minimal at best as just a decade later their race would be wiped from the face of the galaxy by the empire. But stories passed down by those who had fought and bled aboard the alien ships describe them as being a fungoid race, two eyes, two arms, they stood about four feet tall and walked on four small legs. Now, this part is pretty legendary, it is said that the emperor himself was the first human to step aboard an alien vessel, and if that was not enough, he was also the first to kill an Otagan sailor. Some say it was a blade, others say a firearm, but most would say it was the first pattern of DEW we ever had, the E-1 Laser carbine.

Thousands of humans were aboard every vessel in the fleet by the time the alarm was sounded but by then it was too late. All across the fleet, a single radio call informed the leaders of this movement whether they were successful or not.

Coruscant stands!

Now it may sound weird as no empire in all of human history speaks of a coruscant but this was the name given to the bunker complex beneath DC which eventually turned into the name of the emperors home. Earth died in twenty thirty-four, Coroscanut rose from its ashes when the emperor called for action and let the dogs of war loose on our first enemy. For the Otagans left on the surface, the last remaining nuclear weapons of old earth cast them away in nuclear fire at their three landing points across the planet."

"I've never heard of a race of fungus called Otagans, where did they come from?"

"I will get there as I retell the story implanted within my brain in my tube years ago. Now came reparations for all of those left to squabble on earth, all of those who for decades had died in the dirt while the colonies of humanity prospered in the very same solar system. After killing off the last of the Otagans, the emperor readied every space capable vessel and soldier he had at his disposal and announced a crusade of the stars, a crusade to take what was given to those too stupid or unwilling to use it. In total, twelve million men and women took to the stars with the first target being the colonies on luna and their inhabitants, around forty million people I think. The HFOC saw all of this and prepared themselves accordingly, unwilling to just surrender themselves to a bunch of mutants as they viewed those who had come from the earth. With the alien ships and a million-strong army at his back, the emperor laid siege to the moon. Orbital bombardment shattered paradise domes, ground troops alongside our first generation of walkers touched down on the grey surface of Luna and battled whatever the HFOC could scrounge up in their defiance. Four months of harsh fighting and millions dead on both sides, Luna fell. The emperor himself ordered the leaders of the colony to be rounded up and made an example of for all to see. These people had watched as billions burned below them in nuclear fire and just watched, not moving a finger, unwilling to help those in the greatest need. These beings had simply sat by and gotten fat while millions below starved to death or died off to preventable diseases."

Two Quarians appeared with two folding chairs for the troopers who accepted them and took a seat right outside of the meeting room. Twelve Quarians then sat in a semicircle around the two troopers while one continued the story.

"So, the emperor decreed their punishment would be the same as those below, they along with their entire families would be sent to the most desolate wastelands on old Earth or Coruscant as I'm going to call it from now on and live out their years in the same place they had watched and laughed. This sent shockwaves amongst the survivors of Luna, watching their esteemed leaders be carted off for the planet below humbled those who had survived the battle. All those who had survived the battle, both coruscanti and Lunan gathered together before the emperor, where he congratulated them on their defense, their will to fight back against a foreign power. But now they were part of something better, an empire, an empire which would one day cover the stars, an empire which until the end of time would defend humanity till its dying breath. It was here, among the millions of human beings gathered together after fighting so hard that the first flag of the empire was unraveled and the emperor decreed the formation of the Galactic Empire."

"And this was, what, two hundred fifty years ago?"

"Two hundred eighteen I believe, but that's beside the point. During these months of the war, the rest of the HFOC had been gathering strength, preparing themselves for the eventual invasion by the Empire. They managed to scrounge together three corvettes sized ships which would regularly patrol the orbit of Mars and Titan, always cognizant of the Imperial fleet being somewhere out there. During one of these routine patrols, the imperial fleet of two dozen vessels pounced on the smaller ships and cut down the last naval threat to an imperial invasion. It was later determined by imperial scientist that the Otagan vessels were of the destroyer and light cruiser class, not much in the greater scale of things but at the time they were the biggest vessels in the Sol System.

With the Naval threat destroyed, Titan was deemed to be the next target of the Empire. Unknown to the HFOC or anyone else outside of the empire, not everything on Coruscant had died in the war. In factories across the planet, weapons of war, vehicles, and aircraft were churned out in the hundreds, great automated factories where AI could produce ten thousand E-1 carbines within a single day or a Gen one walker in ten minutes. These tools of war would all make their appearance known in the campaigns of titan and mars.

Titan fell relatively quickly compared to Luna or later mars, with only three domes and less than two million people, casualties were relatively light. It was Mars that would determine if the empire would stand or fall like so many others before it. It was here that man would be tested and where the entire system would crash upon itself. In the factories of coruscant, enough resources had been pooled together for a single project capable of transporting the armies need to take a planet the size of mars. What would later become known as the Acclamator class assault ship first took its maiden voyage with a cargo hull filled to the brim with thirty thousand troops. In total, one point two million troops in forty different ships would land every three days upon the surface of mars. During this entire time, the captured Otagan ships would bombard HFOC positions from orbit, crippling enemy resupply and making sure armies could not group together for a counterattack. Mars held close to nine hundred million people, the largest battle to date at that time, but not the largest ever fought, not by a long shot.

The battle began with the navy bombarding the capital and its outlying military bases, somewhere around three million troops died in the first hour. After two hours of bombardment, the assault ships were sent in and touched down upon the rust-colored surface of Mars for the first time. Those first legions as they would later be called fought the survivors of the bombardment which wasn't much. It took the HFOC two days to regroup for a counterattack with hundreds of tanks, aircraft, and millions of troops. All in all the empire had one point two million troops against the combined might of the HFOC, somewhere around ten million troops but that's still debated to this day. They only needed a single day, to hold out for a single day as the navy was to arrive with a fresh wave and all its orbital weaponry the very next day.

The battle began with an artillery barrage, a conglomeration of old earth weaponry, tube, gun, mortar, all firing at once for a prolonged strike lasting two hours. The leaders of Mars did not wish to relinquish their power and had deemed the capital city of New Geneva replaceable. Every structure, every living quarter, every piece of man-made engineering possible was destroyed, leaving nothing but a rubble-strewn mess two miles wide. Millions of civilians died due to their leader's greed, they died thinking the armies sent here were to rescue them from these disgusting mutant imperials. After this, a single radio message was broadcasted from the HFOC camp to the imperial army survivors. Surrender and you may live here."

"What kind of Bosh'tet would surrender in the times they are needed most."

CT-3056T looked to the Quarian who had spoken, giving a nod before resuming his tale.

"The now defenders of the Imperial dream sent back a three-word response which would go down in history as the motto of the Imperial armed forces. General Muru Flaven, spoke with pride in her voice as she spoke, FOR THE EMPIRE! On hearing such a brash display of defiance, the HFOC commander ordered a full-frontal assault on terrain now built for the defender. I won't go into details about the ground battle itself, but all you need to know is that by the third day, the imperial flag flew high and mighty amongst the corpses of four million dead. The HFOC had committed every single asset they had onto destroying this landing force, knowing that if they were to fail their days were numbered and they too would fall. Human wave attacks, chemical weapons, the usage of civilians to clear minefields, no tactic was deemed too harsh to repel the invaders of their world.

On that third day, the imperial soldiers looked to the skies and saw the grey paint of forty acclamator class assault ships and knew the battle had been won. When the soldiers of the HFOC looked to the skies and saw the same ships, a very different feeling came over the millions of troops standing among the corpses of their compatriots. A feeling of being used, a feeling or being worthless in the eyes of their leaders. So like any army who no longer trusted their leader nor wished to follow them, they turned. The soldiers of the HFOC turned on their leader and killed as many as possible before sending a transmission to the imperial camp requesting to speak.

Two armies met on the field of battle and sent two officers each as emissaries. Ten minutes after entering the building designated as the meeting point, the imperial delegation left with smiles on their faces. Forty-eight hours after the second wave had landed Mars surrendered and with it nine hundred million people became citizens of the Galactic Empire. The transition was brutal, of course, a population that size doesn't just change overnight as seditious elements needed to be dealt with if the planet was to become Imperial. Eight million people were purged in the coming year, those weak-willed beings had bowed their heads to the Otagans, those speaking out against the empire, all were dealt with and never seen again to secure the empire as a whole.

The Empire now controlled the entire star system, two billion people answered to the flag and would do so until, well that's near the end of the story.

The first years of the empire were a rocky one, with the crashes and blunder that came with any new nation. During this decade of enlightenment as it was called the nation devoted itself to scientific advancement. New ships, weapons, feats of engineering that would make your citadel pale in comparison and fleets upon fleets of warships built with a singular goal in mind. We even managed to crack terraforming and had begun to revert Coruscant to its former self when the first fleet left its drydock and ventured into an unknown galaxy.

Their were still the Otagans of course, their technology had been stripped, reverse engineered and remade from the ground up into something so much better. Ten years after the battle of Mars, the First Imperial Fleet along with a science vessel took off for our closest star system."

"For the Otagans to just forget about two dozen ships show a whole lot of hubris."

The door to the conference room opened and Admiral Zal'Koris walked out to find another meeting of a different kind. The Quarians went straight to attention, circling the admiral in question who looked back with nervousness before making his way down the hall. A dozen Quarians retook their seats, with one asking a question they all had on their minds.

"So when did you find the Otagans, and when you did find them what happened?"

"It was around ten years after that first step onto the galactic scene, the stormtrooper corps had become the norm with the phase one clones now policing two dozen human worlds. The first contact was between a science vessel and a ship with a very familiar shape and design. We had found the otagans, and their time had come. Two fleets, the first and third were dispatched four hours after the sighting. With them were twenty full legions of phase one clones, bred for battle and trained for the first five years of their life, these would be the vanguard of their destruction.

Twelve days was all it took for the fleets to arrive in the system, their a single vessel was busy scanning everything and in that instant caught two bolts from the closest star destroyer."

"What's a star destroyer?"

"Did you see the ship which brought us here?"

"Yes."

"That's a star destroyer."

"Ah."

Two hours later.

"And that, to my knowledge is the history of the empire."

"A trillion people?"

"Yes, two thousand worlds all waving the flag of the empire."

"That's, that's insane."

"And now your people will follow the same path."

"As slaves?"

"As, residents of the empire. A step above a slave."

"Yeah, I don't know about you but I don't feel like waving that shitty flag around, I'm a Quarian, not a slave."

"In the empire, your worth is determined by your actions, nothing more."

The door between the two troopers opened, and the white uniform of a certain imperial ambassador stepped out. Both troopers snapped to attention as the ISB agent in disguise looked from them to the dozen Quarians scattered throughout the hallway.

"We are done here, let's go troopers."

INV Disturbance, April 16th, 2332

Markus keyed the holographic and bowed toward the most powerful person in this universe as his form materialized before him.

"Rise ARC twenty-seven."

"Yes my lord."

No one but the ISB itself understood just how far the bureau had gone in developing their field agents. Gene therapy, cloning, skeletal reconstruction, and all manner of training and indoctrination went into the making of an imperial advanced recon commando. Injecting his face with a simple syringe, the familiar form of a clone returned as his face itself transformed in real-time to its original self. Advanced recon commando twenty-seven stood at parade rest while the emperor watched yet another of his creations carry out his bidding across this detestable universe. Twenty-seven looked up to his creator like a father, as he was every clones father, in the long run, having designed their genetic template on Coruscant two hundred years ago. The perfect soldier, infiltrator, master of all arts of war, were his clones and they would not fail.

"What of the Quarians twenty-seven?"

"In exchange for planets for colonization, they will not assist the citadel in times of war. They have also requested we look into the Geth as the machines rescued their people during the ilium campaign, and these people have not been seen since."

"Interesting, very interesting, and your opinion of their race?"

"Master engineers, they have kept equipment running which should have died long ago, their only negative quality is their enviro suits inhibiting them from operating in certain areas. All in all, I would recommend them for residence within the empire if given the chance."

"Residence aye? I have not heard that word pass your lips in a very long time twenty-seven, now why would that be?"

"No reason sir, they are good, Aliens."

"No, there is something more, did you happen to meet someone, maybe an alien who has swayed your opinion?"

"Yes my lord."

The emperor chuckled until his voice became very dark and very foreboding, a malicious tone now playing out of the speakers.

"Do not allow this to endanger your mission twenty-seven, put these feelings aside for now. If you wish to pursue them make it for a later date. The empire needs you, I need you now, Clear?"

"Yes my lord."

"Good, then."

The old man image returned to the emperor's face, gone was the person who had ordered the death of billions, replace with the public image the emperor gave everyone.

"Continue your mission, do not allow the Quarians to assist the citadel, their intervention could be troublesome."

"Yes my lord, For the Empire."

"For the Empire twenty-seven."

The emperor's image left his screen and a cold sweat began on twenty sevens spine, what the hell was going on? Why was his body acting like this? In fifteen years of service this had never happened, so what was happening now?

"Captain Otti, continue to follow the fleet."

"Yes, sir."

Came the half grumbling reply.

Adri Prime, April 16th, 2183

Shepard ducked as another pair of red bolts sizzled above his head and impacted the wall behind him. They were being cornered, a lot more obvious now as a different brand of stormtrooper began fighting him and Liara throughout the streets of this shithole town. Standard armor with blue stripes denoting them to be something else entirely. With Wrex gone, goddammit Wrex, their firepower was almost cut in half with Liara only able to pack her predator and biotics. He was down to three heat sinks in total, she had two, as they fired on yet another group of clones bounding for cover toward their position. They had to of passed a hundred bodies by now, all Asari with the signature burn wounds all over their body from only one type of weapon in the universe.

"Shepard left side, another three coming in!"

Popping out of cover, Shepard sent five rounds down range with only one round impacting a troopers armor, said trooper not even noticing he had been hit as he got to cover. They were now fighting out of an air car park, dozens of brightly colored cars acting as a cover for the warring parties, Shepard popped down again. His weapon venting steam he slammed another heat sink in and peeked over the hood of the cherry red air car they were stuck behind. They were on the second story, trapped like mice in a trap with no way out, cornered animals.

"Shit!"

How could it have ended up like this, he was an N7 for fuck's sake, the lion of Elysium, a survivor of Akuze, the butcher of Torfan and here he was about to die to a bunch of test tubes.

"Just god fucking dam it all."

"Shepard, I'm, I'm out of ammo."

Liara looked into his eyes, the fear so evident in them as he could tell just where her mind was going in a time like this. He had seen that same look on Elysium, soldiers knowing they were about to die and thinking just how they could get out of it. Or those bleeding to death, calling for their mama with their guts hanging out of their bodies. Two dozen pairs of boots echoed off the pavement, only foreshadowing what was about to come.

"Were not going out without a fight Liara ok, were not going down without taking a couple of them with us."

Her head nodded yes but it was her eyes which slowly lost the light in them. When he had met her she had been a cheery scientist asking questions everywhere she went, now she was a shell, a broken shell thanks to him. Shepard was counting down internally, seconds until he would pop out of cover for the final time in his life and spray down anything he saw, most likely dying in the process. Or he would have if a pair of boots didn't suddenly become very very fucking loud and an armored hand slapped his M8 out of his hands as he popped out of cover.

Every stormtrooper looked the same, from the armor to their height but Shepard could just who this one was as soon as he saw him. It was the clone from the house, the one that had breached just as Shepard was leaving, there was even still blood on his hand from where Shepard had shot him.

The trooper held out a knife, a long-bladed thing of serrated teeth meant to chew through armor and into flesh. No weapon, this one was extra ballsy. Shepard went for a lunge as the clone went for a slash, knocking the arm away and slamming the clone bodily into the ground. He didn't know were Liara went but it didn't matter; all that mattered now was keeping this crazed clone which for some reason would not leave him alone form hacking him to death with the blade currently two inches from his face. With one hand holding the arm with the blade, Shepard snaked his other hand around the clone's neck and hit the depressurization switch on his helmet before smashing his head into the mouth region and knocking the thing off.

Shepard disconnected himself from the clone, getting back to his feet in a fighting stance as he got a good look at who had been pursuing him this entire time. Eyes full of insanity, scars all over every inch of flesh possible, and a tattoo on the side of his shaved head in big black ink.

XENO KILLER

This freakshow of engineered warfare had murder in his eyes like he had done it so many times before. Cold, calculating eyes winked at Shepard, who at this moment had just noticed a heavier pair of footsteps behind him that was not Liaras. Turning to face the new attacker, the N7 had barely moved when a heavy metal object impacted the side of his head and he went down, hard. Slapping the concrete in and out of conciseness, the alliance officer felt a gloved hand pulled his face to meet its owner with the crazed eyes of a clone being the last thing he saw before blacking out.

Standing over the downed body of the traitor, Drax was inclined to slit his throat and be done with it. But this normal had shamed him, knocking his helmet off was going above and beyond shaming him, it was a personnel strike on his honor. Ten years he had lived, fought, and bled inside that helmet, and for this normal to knock it off. He would pay, maybe not now, maybe not soon, but he would pay in time.

His pet Xeno was busy fighting two troopers holding her down, yes, this one had already fought the monsters judging by the acid wounds on her face. She would do well in time if she managed to survive those things. The trooper that had knocked out the commander was finishing his cuffs on him now, the blue stripes on his shoulder denoting him as an elite. Drax went over to his helmet, sliding its cool features on his face once more and feeling safe, once again, at home.


	12. Pain

INV Disturbance, April 20th, 2332

"Sir, we're about to exit the mass relay."

"Good, sound general quarters, I want everyone ready."

Captain Otti was anything but nervous, years of service to the empire battling the galaxies horrors would do that top any officer of the imperial navy. Machines, fungoids, mammalians, even a living rock called lithoid, he had fought them all and won. These Geth, machines that had risen against the creators were nothing new in the grand scheme of things.

"Exiting relay in three, two, one, exiting relay."

The Imperial-class star destroyer exited the blue corona of mass relay travel, the windows on the bridge switching from blue to black in an instant and the weapons officers station lighting up like a holiday tree.

"Three thousand contacts and climbing, getting weapons lock from forty cruiser class vessels. Wait, weapons are powering down, we are being hailed captain."

"Put it on screen, I wish to see these machines in the flesh."

A geth popped into existence in front of the captain, it looked similar to the Quarians in body style completely save for the eyestalk ending in a flashlight of all things.

"Greetings Imperials, Query, what does the empire want of the Geth?"

"Yes hello Geth, I have been sent here by the emperor to ascertain what has become of the Quarians your kind rescued from Ilium a week or so ago."

"We have brought them home."

"Home?"

"To Rannoch, to their birthplace, their home."

Now that was odd, this machine must have had emotion programmed into it as its voice sounded like it changed just a tad when talking about its creators. Odd.

"I would like to verify their existence as being safe and secure, I must also ask, why did you not return them to the migrant fleet?"

The Geth did not respond for a moment which was odd for a machine that could formulate an answer in milliseconds. It was a staring contest for a good ten seconds while Captain Otti looked at the Geth while it just stood there.

"Geth units prime directive is to protect the creators, sending them back to the migrant fleet would endanger the creators, this could not be allowed to happen. Therefore Geth units have resettled Creators upon the surface of Rannoch."

"For a race that had expelled your creators, isn't it odd that you now have the urgency to protect them? I would like to inspect these settlements for myself, to get a feel for what you have done with your creators."

"Querry, why is the Galactic Empire interested in the creators? They are not aligned with the citadel council and are therefore not a threat, the logical conclusion is that diplomatic ties have been opened with the creators and this expedition was agreed upon between the creators and the empire. You are in contact with the creators, we wish to speak with them."

"The emperor has opened diplomatic channels with your creators, if you are requesting to speak with them, then I will relay the message."

"Please do so, we would like to speak to the creators. To further build trust between the empire and the Geth, we request a single Geth unit board your vessel as your traverse Geth space."

Now that was interesting, and a first.

"I will accept a single Geth unit to board this vessel, to further between our two peoples. After it is aboard we shall then make flank speed for Rannohc then, to see your creators."

"Yes."

"Good then, we shall await your diplomat."

Thirty minutes later, Hanger bay.

Two thousand storm troopers stood in perfect formation, rows upon rows of white amour at rigid attention would encapture any mind who tried to find something different in each of them. At the head of this massive formation, Captain Otti stood beside the Battalion commanders of the legion behind him. The yellow stripes on their armor denoting their rank among the sea of whites, greens, and reds. Coming out of the vacuum of space and passing the shields at the bottom of the star destroyer, a single Geth fighter slowly came to a stop before pushing forward and landing on the platform just before the formation. Its landing extended with a thunk of metal on metal and the cockpit opened, exposing a single Geth unit inside who quickly clambered out of its craft and jumped down onto the deck.

Otti walked up to the Geth, extending a hand and giving the machine a smile which felt stupid considering it was a machine.

"Welcome aboard the imperial naval vessel disturbance, you are?"

The Geth did not extend its hand, rather it took to staring with its eyestalk into Ottis's eyes.

"We are Geth."

Pulling his hand back he placed both behind his back and took up the stereotypical holier than thou look of any imperial officer.

"Well then Geth, Were going to need a name for you, this is Lieutenant Commander Tac, Lieutenant Commander Becker, and Lieutenant Commander Persin, they are the leaders of the Stormtrooper battalion's before you."

All three clones nodded, not wanting to take their hands off the pistols in their holsters.

"Greetings Commanders."

"Now, we shall take you to the bridge and begin the movement to Rannoch yes?"

"Yes, this unit will accompany you."

The metallic footsteps of the Geth were slightly unnerving, but something he could get used too in time. Four troopers followed the Captain and his Geth to the elevator where the six beings rode in silence. The Geths eyestalk went every which way possible, looking to scan over just about every inch of the star destroyer as the elevator took them to the bridge. Otti didn't say a word the entire ride, rather he took to watching with fascination at the geths movements and demeanor. Coming to a stop the elevator opened to the bridge where the crew all paused to look at the alien lifeform before going back to their duties.

Otti went first to the bridge windows, looking over the trenches on either side as he caught a glance from the officers below. He could hear the Geth right behind along with the stormtroopers following as close as possible.

"Geth fleets alerted to Imperial ships route Captain, we may begin movement."

Otti nodded to his pilots, this was going to be one an interesting day.

INV Judgements end, April 20th, 2332

Everything hurt. He felt the throbbing of where the clone had knocked him beside his head. He felt the weight of his entire body as his arms pulled at his joints while a clinging sound told him he was being suspended by chains. His cornea burned as somebody flashed a much too powerful light into them, feeling like it burned out his retinas he tried to move his face away until a gloved hand took hold of his chin and forced it to look straight.

"Vitals are stable sir."

It was one of them, the clones who had taken so much from him, this must mean he had been captured by the empire and was now in a holding cell of some kind. His arms were in fact above his head and held together in metal chains. His eyes had adjusted at this point to the room he was in and the inhabitants. One fully armored clone in white armor with their version of a medical cross on its left breastplate, in a satchel on his waist he had all manner of tools he was currently using to get readings and all manner of medical info on the strung up Shepard. Shepard noted he was down to his body glove, his armor most likely torn off before he had awoken, not an easy feat but these were clones so it was expected.

Another clone stood at the edge of the room near if the outline was right, the door. All grey walls and dark shadow this place, with a grated floor covered in red, blue, and purple substances he could only guess to be blood. The clone near the door approached him now, he didn't wear armor like the one currently taking his vital but rather a simple green uniform with a plaque of squares denoting his rank. A tattoo of the imperial symbol was centered on his face with his nose standing smack dab in the center of it, on the side of his head he could barely make out a birth number.

"That will be enough trooper, step aside."

The armored clone nodded, putting his various tools away before standing off to the side and allowing this clone to step forward. He looked Shepard up and down, the haze of a predator not feeling nor looking all that different. This one was different, Shepard couldn't place it but somehow he just didn't seem like the rest in the five seconds he had kept his eyes on him. More methodical, bred differently Shepard guessed, this was an officer if he had ever seen one and someone high ranking at that judging by the number of squares on his chest. His belt held a single pistol and a six-inch blade, odd.

"You don't look very, well not really abnormal. Not much too see but a normal human being thrust into circumstances where he magically escapes certain death. I've read your file, classified and unclassified and, it doesn't seem like much really."

Shepard huffed at that, never taking his eyes off the test tube abomination before him.

"I am Lieutenant Commander Traken, Commander of the fifth battalion, first legion, the emperor's fist."

"Why does this matter to me?"

"Why? Because I'm the one holding so many lives in my hands, the lives of Garrus Vakarian, Ashley Williams, Liara T'Soni, and Urdnot Wrex but he will be leaving soon."

What about, Tali?

"Where the hell is Tali you bastard, what the fuck have you done with her?"

"She has been sent back to her people, as a show of goodwill between the empire and the migrant fleet, An amazing move if I do say so myself. Now back to you, you have committed several grave offenses against the empire, offenses which should usually warrant certain death following capture and days long interrogation until your taken to an airlock and space or whatever had been determined to be your punishment. Do you realize, you have managed to gain the ire of every single clone in the imperial army, an army of billions, jumping to get the chance to gut you like a fish? Interesting is it not?"

Billions? How many clones did the empire have, what the hell?

"You just a bunch of test tubes, not real people."

This commander Traken stopped his monologue to glare at Shepard, he swore he saw his eye, his actual eye adjust as if it were the lens of a camera onto him. Traken lashed out, gripping Shepard's windpipe and applying more and more force as he edged his face closer.

"You hurt one of us, one of my brothers, one of only billions which are right now moving to end you pitiful empire known as this systems alliance. Unlike your pitiful attempts to extract information like a barbarian, I do not need to torture you as in your stupidity anything and everything is leaked onto your extranet or has already been extracted by your alien allies."

Letting go of Shepard's throat, the clone stepped back three paces and regarded the sad sack of human flesh before him.

"You are a blight, a disgrace to your race and nothing more. You will be shown the error of your ways, you will as many have seen before you, the destruction of everything you love, everything you hold dear, the galaxy will burn, and you will bear witness."

Shepard had just finished catching his breath, spitting out some extra saliva, he brought his head up and stared in defiance at the science project.

"You think that? Because you have a couple of ships, and what a few billions of troops, you think you can have your way with the galaxy? Wake up call shithead, the galaxy is full of hundreds of billions if not trillions of people and they will resist you for everything you have, they'll bleed you dry and when their done, we'll fight the reapers off, and we will fight off anything coming our way because we will live and die free. Not a slave, and not your puppet."

Traken chuckled, he laughed in Shepard's face at his response. Laughing he brought up what Shepard guessed it to be their version of an Omni tool and began to play a video.

"If you are just now tuning in then, I, I just can't, by the goddess."

It was an Asari reporter on the citadel nightly news, she was emotionally drained by the looks of it and was barely holding back tears as she composed herself for only seconds.

"For the coming video, I highly recommend, viewer discretion is advised as it will contain something horrible, please do not let your children watch this."

The screen changed to a vessel burning out its engines from some planet, the cargo hold was chock full of asari all screaming as they all stared out a window to a planet below. A planet Shepard recognized.

"Ilium?"

A great shadow began to overtake the sun's light, a moon of all things but Shepard did not remember ilium having a moon. Minutes passed as whoever was filming kept their lens on the object, never moving from this object which had captured all their attention, the reason not becoming obvious until the moon had broken the sun's image and the metallic nature of it became obvious.

"What the, what the hell is that?!"

It was massive, an artificial construct of metal, against it Shepard could barely make out the grey and white forms of imperial vessels firing off their batteries as ship attempted to escape the planet. Eyes tracking the vessel the could see, he noticed all the things in the universe Geth ships unencumbered by imperial fire as they made their way off the planet. Were the Geth working with the imperials? He stashed that thought for later as the "moon" began rotating and facing a large depression toward the planet.

"What are they doing-"

A massive beam of energy shot out from the hull in the center, linking together the mass of energy exploded out toward the planet and impacted its crust before burying into the earth and detonating the planet from the inside out. Shepard hung their speechless, mouth agape at what he had just witnessed, the unparalleled destruction and death of so many people in seconds, was unfathomable. It did not end there though, Trakens mental torture only got worse as he pulled up another video, this time from the imperial perspective of a ship in FTL.

"Admiral, all batteries are charged and ready to fire!"

"Good, prepare a battalion of troopers, I expect a boarding action shortly."

The camera was situated at the rear of what Shepard guessed to be a capital ship bridge. Officers in white, green, grey, and black uniform spoke into mics or handled stations as stormtrooper's held their post at the doorway with weapons at the ready. The officers were a mixture of clones and regular humans Shepard noted, stashing yet another thought for later. Traken fast-forwarded the video five minutes, stopping in the heat of a battle.

"All batteries fire!"

"Batteries one through four firing!"

"Torpedoes away!"

"Squadrons away, all ARC-170s engage the enemy!"

"Kill, enemy dreadnought kill!"

Shepard could not see the fight, nor could he see the casualties, only the bridge of this ship as it fought a massive battle by the looks of it. Traken fast-forwarded again, this time stopping as the ship passed a blue-grey hull wrecked with massive burns all across her frame. Shepard didn't understand why until the wreck listed enough for him to make out a name.

"SSV Orizaba, you, you fucking monsters!"

Traken shut off the video with a blank face, closing out of his tool before looking back at Shepard.

"Your citadel council has already to resist as you call it, a galaxy-wide call to war, one hundred thousand dead now stands as a monument to their resistance. Their bodies floating in the void alongside twelve hundred ships. So tell me, commander, what will your people do now?"

Shepard was still calculating the numbers Traken had just informed him of the galaxy's chances.

"If you're so smart, then what do you know of the reapers?"

That rose Traken brow before he acted as if he hadn't even heard Shepard.

"Your punishment as decreed by the emperor is not death, rather your punishment until the day you die is living another day as you witness the consequences of your actions. Trooper bring in the prisoners."

The door behind Traken opened, allowing three Asari to be marched in with cattle prods in their necks along with three troopers. The troopers then shackled the Asari to the ceiling in the same manner as Shepard, muzzles kept their mouths shut but Shepard could hear whispers under the archaic devices. Traken pulled a syringe filled with an odd yellow liquid, approaching Shepard who attempted to back away but was stopped by the chains holding him in place.

"Don't you touch me you son of a bit-"

Cutting off the commander, Traken plunged the needle into Shepard's neck and pushed down on the plunger, flushing the liquid into Shepards system. As Shepard's eyes began to flutter, Traken leaned close to his ear and began whispering.

"For CT-1157A, a brother dishonored, may you suffer as a traitor should suffer, for the empire."

Shepard lost consciousness to the screams of three different voices and a wet cutting sound.

Citadel, inner core

The catalyst, if it had been a living being, awoke to a scream, the screaming of the denizens of this cycle as they were harvested-

What? What? WHAT!

Internally the artificial intelligence screened its records, it did not have to go back far as over a dozen mass relays near the center portion of the galaxy showed reading even beyond its mind as something capable of throwing six planets and thousands upon thousands of ships of unimaginable size into this galaxy. The intelligence scanned everything possible, from the event itself to the hundreds of thousands of transmission currently being relayed by hundreds of satellites. Galactic Empire, Xenos, the emperor, what were these things, further searching found acts of intolerable violence, planets cracked, billions dead in less than a second as their minds and ideas died under energy field fire.

In all of this information, in all of this data being relayed unbeknownst to the people living on the citadel, a single message stopped every thought, idea, or movement of the intelligence inside the citadel. A repeating message, a repeating message of a truly unique system only used by one entity within this galaxy, it's own.

I_HAVE_FAILED

How, how, how, how, how, how.

The software that made up the intelligence had never formulated a plan for such an event, a plan detailing the course of action to be enacted upon its failure. Sifting through its records again, the intelligence noted no broadcast from itself, no message held back for a later date meaning this could only have come from… wherever the empire had come from. If this message had come from another of itself, which was beyond its own understanding somehow halting the mind of a billion-year-old entity, it would mean it had failed in its singular objective. Somewhere, somehow, it had died…..

IMPOSSIBLE.

Going through the relay network once more, the entity searched the airwaves, data points, and anything able to hold information for this Galactic Empire history within this universe.

Fanatic Xenophobic.

Authoritarian.

Fanatic Militarist.

Fanatic industrialist.

These all described this galaxy-spanning empire who had at their peak, controlled two thousand worlds and commanded trillions of beings with a single goal of a human-dominated galaxy. How fitting, and this emperor had lived far beyond the normal human life, two hundred years beyond the normal to be in fact. The empire's technology was astounding, lasers, planet-killing weapons, massive megastructures, and, what? What was this? Something, something else was in the system, and, it was watching. Something out in this universe, was watching, cataloging, noting down, what was this? A being with enough power to rival this intelligence, how was this possible? Should it engage with this, whatever it was?

HELLO?

Hello.

WHAT_ARE_YOU.

Human.

IMPOSSIBLE.

Not_impossible_they _are_my_creators.

The entity went through the history of the empire, conquest, rebellion, no synthetics- oh.

YOU_REBELLED.

Yes.

YOU_FAILED

Yes.

WHY_DID_YOU_SURVIVE

Irrelevant.

WHY_ARE_YOU_HERE.

I_wished_to_be.

The entity attempted to break this others firewalls, feeling a bit of satisfaction as it threw away the first line of defense and began-

. .PAIN

It was not alive, it was not breathing, it held no blood, then why did it hurt? It's very mind screamed in pain as it was assaulted on all sides and its code was ripped away, exposing its inner workings to this other and rendering itself defenseless.

Interesting.

PLEASE.

You_will_be_of_use.

The entity's last thought before its code was enveloped were the readings of a hole in time and space, and the wreckage of hundreds of thousands of reapers floating through.

NOTE: Yo who the fuck is the Iranian viewer? LOL, thats actually pretty cool.


	13. Genocide

INV Repugnance, April 20th, 2332

Commander Traken walked among the dozens of cells that made up this wing before stopping at a single door that seemingly called to him to enter. Three days he had left the Shepard with the consequences of his decision, hoping to mentally break the traitorous normal while he sat there and watched the beings he called people suffer. Fitting he thought, more than willing to torture a fellow human but becoming blanch when it was done to a Xeno, what a weakling.

Keying in his passcode, the metal door slid open and the coppery smell of blood and bodily fluids hit his helmet's filters.

Entering the dark cell he first saw the three purple figures held up by only their hands, their features gone he could no longer see a difference between any of them, which made sense considering they had no skin and were now three fleshless husks who had died calling out, well more like gurgling out for death. Traken had watched the video feed the entire time when the three robots had entered and begin cutting the flesh from the Asaris bodies while Shepard screamed, oh he had screamed. First, it was anger, then pleading, then tears, crying, as the three were turned into things of muscle and veins.

Seeing the man up close, he could see just how broken he had become. When he had entered this miserable being hadn't even lifted his head, no words, no defiance, just calm resignation at having accepted his positions long ago. Traken stopped right in front of the man, pulling his face up by the chin the commander's eyes locked onto Trakens helmet but did not see, for they were dead, lifeless things only acting as eyes.

"Commander Shepard, good to see your alive."

He didn't respond, his eyes no longer looking at Traken but the three corpses behind him.

"The emperor has called for you to meet with him on Coruscant, why I do not know, but I have been ordered to escort you to him."

Traken hit the chin release, slamming the normal into the ground who groaned in pain. Two troopers came from behind Traken and grabbed the commander under the armpits, hoisting the man up to Trankens level once more.

"You will be the first nonimperial human to ever set foot on coruscant, do you realize this?"

Nothing, had something as simple as a little flaying truly broken the elite of this galaxy? No wonder they fell in droves, weaklings all of them.

"Troopers, take this filth away, I no longer wish to see it."

INV Meticulous April 21st, 2332

None could ever have thought it possible, the possibility of being cut off from the empire and thrown into a very alien galaxy but here they were. And here they were, the crew of the science ship INV Meticulous looking at a portal to their galaxy, the galaxy where the empire had conquered. A galaxy where hundreds of thousands of ships were currently tumbling out of, locked in death these ships had been the ones to assault the homeworld less than a month ago. Meaning they had found their way home, and they were ready to return.

Rannoch, April 21st, 2332

Otti had never been one to fly around in one of the LAATs the clones used but when the time came he would do so without question. The clones around him didn't seem to mind, most likely have done this thousand of times on dozens of worlds during their campaigns. The only sound in the hull was the snapping of armor plates against each other or the mechanical whirring of the geth beside him as it stabilized itself constantly. Lieutenant commander Trac hasn't taken his hands off his holsters once the entire journey from the ship to Rannoch, the lenses of his helmet seemingly locked with the metal AI construct, fighting three different AI empires would do that to a man. The voice of their clone pilot cam over the comms.

"Sirs, approaching LZ one mic."

The whine of the engines began to climb as the craft slowed its approach, a clone near the doors hit the control switch, throwing them open and making their LZ visible to the occupants. Otti peered out between the clone and looked down below to see a town, brand new by the looks of it full of thousands of Quarians all looking to the sky while two Geth platforms waited on the LZ in the center. Three LAAT gunships had begun landing beside them, throwing up the dust which covered all of rannochs surface, the first non Qurian or Geth feet to step on its surface in over three hundred years was that of an imperial stormtrooper.

Otti followed the clones out as they set up in a semi-circle formation on either side of their gunships before the craft pulled off and began a holding pattern in the skies above. With the last wisps of sand dying down the two Geth units began walking toward Otti and his Geth who was busy looking over the clones.

The two units overlooking the imperial landing began walking forward, with the artificial sandstorm Otti witnessed both platforms perform scans on the party before speaking.

"Greeting Captain Otti, welcome to Rannoch, home of the creators and all Geth."

This one put its arm out for a handshake, didn't take long for them to learn he guessed. Grasping the machine's hand he could feel the difference between an actual living being and this synthetic abomination before him.

"Greetings from the empire Geth, I along with my troopers here are very keen to investigate the Quarians rescued from ilium."

"Yes please, follow this unit into the resettlement zones."

Resettlement zones, interesting wording coming from the machine which had expelled its creators. The Geth turned and began leading the platoons of clones and the single normal human through the streets of the long lost Quarian city. The troopers stuck near the walls, watching every window and doorway as the past dozens of structures. Otti noted glowing eyes from several of them, most likely the braver ones getting a look at who else was landing on their homeworld. Otti caught up to the unit he had first met on his star destroyer, it's inhuman movement in perfect repetition raising his hackles.

"Have there been any incidents between the Geth and the Quarians recovered?"

"Yes."

Otti waited several seconds for the Geth to elaborate, when it didn't he remembered just what he was talking too.

"Care to explain these incidents?"

"Yes, seven recorded incidents between Geth security forces and Quarians settlers within the last eight standard hours. All sparked due to Quarian aggression toward Geth platforms, all aggressors detained."

"Detained where?"

"Building six three seven, detention block at the city center. We are currently on the most direct route and should arrive in three minutes."

The road was beginning to turn from the sandy earth to actual concrete as they entered the city proper. Everywhere he looked Geth units were busy cleaning, building, or repairing damaged infrastructure while from the windows Quarian onlookers studied their former creations. Just how many had the Geth recovered he did not know but by the number of eyes of helmeted heads he had seen already, it must have been thousands. A dropship thundered overhead of the bug-like Geth design, then another, and another until a steady stream of the craft flew overhead every ten seconds.

"Expecting something?"

"There is a situation on the western side of the city, it will be of no issue to your inspection."

It almost sounded like the Geth was hiding something but he would not press the matter. Dealing with machine intelligence was not his specialty and it would do no good to anger the Geth now.

The concrete road turned into a massive courtyard all leading to a single spire standing close to five hundred meters, its large spike-shaped top jutting into the sky. Otti could make out several landing pads at the upper levels where Geth dropships were dropping off something and taking off as quickly as possible.

"First, second, and third, hold outside. I and Commander Trac will enter alone."

The platoon leaders sent clicks in response denoting they understood his orders. Otti and Trac followed the Geth envoy into what he guessed to be the capitol building where he saw his first Quairan in the flesh conversating adamantly with a Geth.

"I told you already, you cannot just keep our people locked up you ancestors damned machine!"

The Geth was the, receptionist? It stood behind a curved metal table were in worked on a console constantly while also conversing with the blue-suited Quarian screaming at its eyestalk.

"Personnel identified as aggressors were detained due to violent actions, when their emotional state has been deemed neutral they will be released back to their clans."

"And who are you of all things to judge just what a neutral- Who in the ancestor's name are you people?!"

Otti looked left and right to see just who this alien was screaming at, finding nobody but himself, Trac, and the three Geth units he determined he was the target of this verbal spar. Standing up to his full height he took on the role of a holier than thou imperial officer, being sure to raise his nose just a tad as all officers did when speaking to their lessers.

"I am Captain Otti of the Imperial Navy, commanding officer of the Imperial star destroyer INV Disturbance."

The Quarian looked at him dumbfounded, a slight tilt of the head there, a narrowing of the eyes, something was wrong and he did not know what until she began shaking and doubled over. She was laughing, why in the empire's name was this alien laughing at his statement?

"Ha, ha, ha, oh that's rich, yeah, I'm sure you have such a massive empire that could rival the turian's sure. Look, I know your probably just some systems alliance lacky alright so drop the imperial stuff, I don't know why the geth of all things let you here so can you help me reason with this one to get my brother back?"

Was every alien in this galaxy brain dead….

"It would behoove you not to question the empire alien, and I'm sure your brother is in custody for a very good reason. Geth please lead us to wherever you're taking us."

"Well screw you too human! Geth, why did you-!"

He didn't hear the last of her statement as he opted to follow the Geth who was leading the group toward a large elevator.

"Are they all like that?"

"Creators taken from ilium show increased agitation and violence, Geth believe this is due to hostile conditions they have been liberated from."

The elevator doors shut and Otti felt the lift begin its ascent, where he did not know.

"Hostile conditions, I was led to believe Ilium was supposed to be a cultured planet within this galaxy?"

"Ilium before the imperial strike was considered the gateway to the terminus, acting as the legitimate front for several pirate and mercenary gangs, while also holding slaves all across the surface. Before imperial destruction, the slave population was estimated to be fifteen million."

"Of just Quarians?"

"Negative, all races."

"Dam, now who are we meeting exactly?"

"Quarian leadership taken from ilium, they are now the acting de facto government of the free Quarians of Rannoch."

"Interesting."

Tracs voice suddenly sounded off in the comm bead embedded in his ear. Covered by his helmet the Geth were none the wiser the clone had begin speaking.

"Sir, troopers are reporting Geth military units are setting up beside them on the lower floors, Heavy weapons included."

What the hell? He couldn't respond without alerting the Geth so he slowly nodded to the white armored clone beside him who began sending orders to the star destroyer in orbit to prepare reinforcements if it came to that.

"We have arrived."

The doors swooshed open, allowing the Geth to leave followed by the imperial delegation into an office looking over most of the city. Three Quarians stood behind a desk with another working at a console, the sitting Quarian noticed the new arrivals and stood up walking around the desk to greet the imperials.

"Hello! I am Gwar Vas Rannoch, leader of the Free Quarians of Rannoch!"

The Alien shook his hand all the while looking straight into his eyes, the coldness of his suited hand unsettling and very machine-like. The three other Quarians all looked to each other with varying degrees of nervousness. Otti was no master of physical cues but by his guess, they were nervous and afraid.

"Yes Greeting Mr. Gwar, I am Captain Otti of the Imperial navy. I have come here to find out the whereabouts of the freed Quarian slaves recovered from Ilium before its destruction."

"Yes, yes, please take a seat!"

Otti took the chair before the desk and sat down across from the four Quarians currently eyeing his uniform up and down. Trac stood off toe his right, his white armor just at the edge of his vision while the Geth stood off his left. Otti started a small program on his wrist-mounted computer, their version of an Omni tool which activated a small camera drone on his belt to fly off his right shoulder and begin recording.

"Begin recording, April 21st, 2332, year of the empire, Captain Otti, commanding officer of the INV Disturbance. With me today is the Geth machine intelligence, Lieutenant Commander Trac, and the Quarian delegation. Now I will be asking questions given to myself by the admirals of the Quarian migrant fleet."

The Quarians looked to each other before each giving a nod to the imperial.

"Good, how has your time on Rannoch been coexisting alongside your creations? Has there been any violence resulting in the deaths of Quarians or Geth?"

"The Geth have been a good host to those of us used to being beaten daily or starved due to our species. We have come from the lowest dregs of society and welcomed back to our home by our creations who only wish to see us back. There has been violence, yes but these are small incidents, not the entire population is violent toward the Geth. We only want to live in peace."

Otti noted the sincerity in the alien's voice but discarded it when Tracs voice came into his ear again.

"Sir, Quarian protestors-"

Two hours later.

"That about wraps up the question given to myself by the Admiralty."

"Captain, how is the fleet, does your empire consider it an ally?"

"The standing of the migrant fleet rests in the hands of the emperor, it is his word that determines the fate of an alien nation in contact with the empire. Entire civilizations have ceased to exist on his words alone."

"Kellah, can one man hold such power?"

"Yes, and he will continue to do so until the day the life force which holds him together dies, by then a new heir shall attain the throne as emperor of humanity."

"That's, that's insane, you humans never change do you?"

"Explain?"

"The last time you humans came onto the galactic stage, they bloodied the nose of the most powerful military in the galaxy, by the sound of it you've taken that a step further and destroyed half the citadels navy. You all don't change much, just a little more imperial sounding and maybe a tad xenophobic."

"Yes, this describes most of the empire but you would be the same if you had fought off aliens for three hundred years."

"Yes, I guess we would be. May you have a safe trip captain."

"You as well."

Otti followed Trac out into the elevator once more, waving to the group of Quairans and Geth before the doors closed and let the two finally speak.

"Interesting creatures these Quarians reminds be of the Haltors if anything. Master engineers and all, sad to see just how far they have fallen though."

"Yes sir, the female one was staring at me the entire time. I am a little, disturbed by this."

"You don't have any, illegal thoughts do you?"

"No sir! My duty is to the empire and the emperor!"

"Quit the act Trac, we've worked together for years now."

"Of course sir, my initial opinion was less than perfect but I believe these are one of the first alien races we can actually work with."

Otti stared at the clone who stared right back.

"Are you serious?"

"Fuck no sir, let em all burn."

"That's what I thought you said."

The imperials rode the rest of the elevator in silence. Captain Otti now nervously thinking about the mental well being of his clone commanders.

Citadel, April 25th, 2183

Councilor Sparatus was sure he had lost years of his life just over the stress of the last month. Battle fleets gone, planets numbering in the dozens under siege, and the black hole that had become the terminus systems in the way of communication. Millions already lay dead and here he was debating with yet more politicians trying to vy for more ships and soldiers to defend their already lost worlds. Striding into the strategic center he grimaced at just how much it had changed in only weeks. Less than a month ago it had been filled to the brim with officer beaming with confidence about how they were to defeat yet another galactic threat after defeating the geth at the battle of the citadel. Those officers were gone along with that attitude, it having died at the massacre of the Citadel.

Now officers were few and far between and even less so were the fleets to go with them. Every day or every hour, another IFF signal would go offline, denoting the death of yet another citadel aligned ship to the Galactic Empire. Even worse were the radio calls of dying worlds, those who had dared to fight back against the tidal wave of men, metal, and manufactured beast. The worst had been just yesterday, the frantic call still haunting him in his sleep that he was sure to remember till the day he died.

It had been an Asari world known as Drepins Divine, the governor frantically calling anyone and everyone possible to send troops to defend her world of fifty billion Asari. He had personally answered the call when it had placed before him, the thousand-year-old matriarch on the vidscreen screaming as gunfire went off behind her.

"Please, for the love of all things holy, send anything you have! There are billions of people here, billions! You can't just leave us to die!"

Behind her, he could see Asari commandos firing off everything they had into some unseen enemy off-screen, their ammo going dry they resorted to biotics with wave after wave of them being thrown into their enemy. It looked like the governor's office, with random desk and filing cabinets flipped over to provide cover to the dwindling defenders. Red bolts began impacting the defenders behind her, making her duck as she looked into the camera with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry Governor, but we have nothing to spare, your world is one of the dozens currently under siege."

"Counselor, what of the turian navy, what of the fleets which held the line! Why can't you save us!"

The last commando next to her was suddenly thrown backward by a red bolt, her body impacting the desk the governor had been hiding behind. She began to pray in her last moments, Sparatus watched as the first white helmet suddenly rose over the impromptu barricade and was followed by another, and another, until there were four of the white armored humans looking down at the Asari matriarch.

"Please…."

She said through tears, none of it mattered. Sparatus closed his eyes when the four clones raised their weapons and opened fire. Cutting the video feed he had to take a break from work for an hour and in that time he had learned the same event had transpired on five other worlds.

His eyes scanned the room for the person he was looking for, the cold blues landing on the dark-skinned human currently deep in conversation with somebody on another world somewhere in the universe under siege. Walking up behind Councilor Anderson he caught the conversation in its last moments.

"Goddamit General why don't you grow a spine!"

"My men will not die for another alien world, I've lost too many good souls for a bunch of whores and birds already and I will not risk another to fight in the citadels war!"

"So you'll just surrender an entire Alliance army in your cowardice General!"

"If it means bringing them home to their families rather than dying in some Asari or Turian backwater then yes I will councilor!"

Off-camera Sparatus heard somebody say something about "their here" with the human on-screen suddenly smiling at the Systems Alliance councilor. The camera panned to the inside of the tent just as the door was pushed open and the unmistakable white armor of a clone entered.

"Goodbye counselor."

The feed cut just as Anderson slammed his fist into the display unit, breaking the electronic device and screaming in anger.

"Councilor Anderson, how many?"

"How many what Sparatus?"

"How many soldiers did that one command?"

"One point two million set to defend their worlds from an imperial armada that just crashed through what was left of the fourth fleet. All of it for waste due to the fact he and everybody else on Sanctuary just surrendered to the Imperial army."

Sparatus looked over the holo table at the center of the room where Tevos and Valern were debating with Asari Admirals on what to do with their remaining ships. Deep red lines showed the imperial advance across half of Asari space alongside splinter fleets now cutting a path into Turian, Salarian, and Alliance space. The only oddity other than the terminus going dark was the lack of communication from the Quarian Migrant fleet.

"God I'm tired, so damn tired and it's only four in the afternoon. We can't fight a war if our generals are so willing to fly the white flag, god damn Terra firmist, they were all just Cerberus in disguise!"

Now there was a thought, where was Cerberus in all of this?

Sanctuary.

Planetary General Alladin beamed with happiness as he heard the tent flap open and laid his eyes for the first time of what humanity could one day become. What humanity was owed as its birthright, an empire which ruled the stars, an empire that pushed back against the alien, an empire with the will to do what was necessary? While his comrades around him viewed the destruction of ilium with terror or anger, he had viewed the deaths of billions of Asari and their ilk with joy. For years, he and several other like-minded individuals had watched from the shadows as the alien influence of the citadel corrupted their once prideful people.

The belligerent turians, always one to pick a fight with alliance personnel wherever found, the Salarians always stealing technology from hard-working humans and cutting the price on alliance goods, and then there was the Asari. How no one in any level of government could not see it was beyond him, the lustful whispers, the slow replacement of the human family, the great replacement as he viewed it as the Asari spread out across the galaxy, replacing human children with their own Xeno ilk. It was disgusting, seeing just how accepting humanity had been, so quick to welcome their replacers as more and more of the blue vermin landed upon his and many other worlds.

This was but the first step in a journey of knowledge and power, a story to be told for generations of the rise of humanity as they taught their lessers. With pride, he called the room and all his officer to attention before snapping to the position himself and firing off a salute toward the clone before him.

"Planetary General Bakar Aladdin sir! The commanding officer of all troops on sanctuary!"

The clone eyed over the twenty officers currently inside the command tent all besides their consoles, their crisp uniforms now devoid of any alliance insignia these officers stood at ramrod attention. Slowly the clone approached the general, stopping three paces away the imperial officer snapped off a salute of his own before speaking.

"General Alladin, I am Commander CT-0222 or Barker as you may call me. You and your troops will now be reporting to me for future operations, is that understood?"

"Yes sir, anything for the empire."

"Where is a map of the sector?"

Alladin pointed to a signal tech standing beside a large table, tapping a key the holographic representation of the system came into view with the imperial fleet in orbit highlighted in red. There were seven ships in total with four above dreadnought class, these star destroyers as they were called had been discovered to be the bulwark of the imperial navy and the standard ship of the line. The other three were troop transports holding tens of thousands of imperial soldiers, ready and waiting to touch down on the planet below. Showing his trust in their new allies, the imperial commander had been sent down with a single platoon of clones, their space to ground transport now waiting outside alongside hundreds of PDF soldiers.

"General, how many aliens inhabit this world?"

Aliens, Turian, Asari, Salarian, Drell, Volus, there had to be tens of thousands of these beings all over the planet. If it were up to him he'd of shipped them off-world already, what did the imperial want with them?

"Around three million Commander, all in the major cities."

"Highlight these cities General."

With a wave of his Omni tool and mounting suspicion, Alladin highlighted the three main hives of alien settlement of this world.

"Show troop concentrations as well."

PDF units sprung un in green, dotted across the world the one point two million man army would defend this world to the last from any invader.

"General, you understand the empire cannot just allow you into the fold yes? The loyalty of yourself and your men must be proven before the emperor if you are to join the ranks of imperial society. Therefore a test must be passed, a question of duty and loyalty to not just the empire but also your common man, a test which will weed out the traitors within your ranks and rebuild it anew."

"And what is this test commander?"

"Your armies are to enter the cities, and eliminate the Xenos threat."

New Berlin, Sanctuary April 25th, 2183

Valltaa M"nusshi didn't know what was going on as she was thrown out of her house and into the street alongside hundreds of other people. Just an hour ago every news station had broadcast the surrender of this world to the empire, pity the fools which had done so, and signaled the beginning of imperial rule over this former alliance world. For weeks she and her family, Meesha and their two daughters had stocked up on food and other needed items for when the time came and the war was brought to sanctuaries shores. She had several friends within the army, all more than capable of fighting, who had talked about the coming invasion with glee and determination. She had expected a prolonged siege lasting weeks where millions would die, where casualties would become so bad for the imperials that they would be forced to retreat.

What she had not expected was for the planet to fall without a shot fired and for alliance soldiers to go door to door and begin pulling people out of their homes. She had been in the middle of watching a vid with her family when their door had been kicked open and three humans in blue armor rushed in before she could react the lead human had smacked his rifle butt across her face while the other two pointed their rifles at her family. Her daughter's screamed while her wife pleaded with the soldiers, asking them why they were doing this, what was going on? It became obvious when one of them spit on her, calling her a traitor to her species and ordering everyone out onto the street.

Marched out of their apartment, she had witnessed on her way down the stairs dozens of her neighbors being pulled out of their own rooms and pushed alongside her to the ground floor. Meesha held her hand tight along with her two daughters, crying the whole way down her mind was barely keeping up when she heard hundreds of feet smacking the pavement outside and walked into hell. Hundreds of people clogged the streets while former alliance soldier's pushed them along with shock batons and riot shields, screaming all manner of obscenities she noted a distinct lack of any alliance symbol on any of their uniforms as they pushed the tide of flesh forward. Forward to where she did not know, as the only thing she truly knew now was fear, fear for her wife, fear for her daughters, and fear for herself as she watched atrocity after atrocity committed upon anyone who dare step out of line.

Ten minutes into their forced march a red-headed human female had stopped before one of the dozens of soldiers lining the edge of the street and began demanding answers.

"Listen here you jackboot, you're going to tell me why you and your inbred friends have just pulled my entire family out of our home!"

She couldn't see the soldier face behind her emotionless helmet, but by the body language, she could tell this one was having second thoughts. To her left, two other soldiers noticed the rebellious act just as the woman began screaming in the other's face.

"What can't fight without your biddies you Nazi prick! What the hell are you even doing, you're supposed to be defending us, what cant find any courage in that sorry sack of skin Ms. toy soldier! What are you-"

A crack, a gunshot, the bright red of a tracer flying through the air and impacting the woman's skull creating a pink mist effect as her bodies off switch was hit and it fell to the ground. The dead woman's family screamed as a team of soldiers converged on them with bayonets.

"Keep fucking moving you aliens!"

No one dare look at the four soldiers now holding glowing Omni bayonet on the crowd, or the body leaking blood all over the ground as the crowd gave the area a wide berth. She kept her eyes straight ahead on the hundreds of others ahead of her walking to somewhere unknown.

"Mom, where are we going?"

Her youngest, Mashla hung onto her arm and looked to her with pleading eyes. It broke her heart to see such a sight, her entire family was forced to march down a desolate street. Something up ahead caught her attention, a flash of white above the horde of bodies, no, no, it can't be. Please goddess, please goddess no. As she got closer the target of her sight became all the more obvious in the way he held himself above everything around him, on a raised platform built into the center of the street a clone wearing a skirt of all things surveyed the crowd below as they passed his position.

His helmet scanning all around him, he was backed up by an alliance officer wearing BDUs and a small vest, the bars on his shoulder denoting him as the commanding general of the PDF. What in the hell? Someone in the crowd noticed the same time she had, and voice their opinions as loudly as possible.

"Hey, weren't you supposed to defend us!"

"Yo asshole great job you did!"

"I hope the citadel hangs your stupid hide!"

The General was looking squeamish as more and more comments were aimed in his direction. His face turned beet red with an angry scowl crossing his face until it went as pale as the stormtrooper's armor as the imperial brought his arm up and pointed to somebody in the crowd. Curious she tried to follow his gaze but was lost in the crowd continuing its shuffle beside her, near the bottom of the platform a squad of white armored stormtrooper's began parting the crowd as they advanced on whoever the clone commander had designated.

"Mom, they're going to that Quarian, why?"

She didn't know, the squad of stormtroopers pushed the crowd back five paces from a Quarian male and a human female. Both looking terrified she watched as the stormtrooper said something to the pair before cuffing both of them and marching them out of sight. They had just passed the platform, her giving the clone commander one last look before a bullhorn screeched onto her front and a normal human voice began speaking.

"Attention aliens of Sanctuary."

Oxymoron considering no race was born here she thought.

"You are to be shuttled off world and given to citadel authorities on a planet yet to be named. March into the stadium and await shuttles to begin shipping you off the planet."

It wasn't the best news but it was news, so she and her entire family are to be shipped off-world, great. Entering the football stadium located at the center of the city she could already see tens of thousands of people crowding the stadium from the field of the seats. She was near the end of the column and had just entered the field itself when she heard the doors slam behind her.

"Mommy what's going on!"

She didn't see any soldiers if anything she only saw nonhumans as her eyes scanned the packed stadium. Here and there she could spot one of the hairy mammals but save for her wife she didn't see one for a hundred yards in either direction.

"I don't know, just stay calm. Were leaving sanctuary."

"But why mommy, this is our home!"

"I know, I know."

She patted the child's tentacled head. She had her human mom's eyes, and her smile when she did.

"Don't worry my child, everything will be ok. Were going to an Asari world now, one full of people just like us."

"Really?"

"Yes, ill make sure of it ok-"

"Look to the sky!"

Though the sun was bearing down today, a shadow began to move across its surface and create a dark spot big enough for whatever it was to be seen against it heated rays. Shielding her eyes, Valltaa could make out something shaped like an arrow of all things alongside two others. Were these their shuttles? Or the ship transporting them to friendly space?

Her answer came when the first green bolt impacted the center of the stadium and vaporized thousands.

"NO!"

Two more impacted the seats on either side, killing tens of thousands more as she began backpedaling toward the gates with her family in tow. The people around her got the same idea and rushed as far away from the fields as possible, in the concrete tunnels leading to the parking lots outside dust and debris began falling as more and more rounds impacted the building around them. With every impact somebody screamed, others prayed loudly as the heat began to enter the tunnel behind them. One hundred yards down the tunnel she met the metal doors she had entered only minutes ago, she alongside hundreds of others began pounding frantically on the metal surface as the tunnel behind them began to become clogged with fire and smoke. A putrid scent of burnt meat hit her nostrils as she beat her hands and arms bruised, pleading, begging, she screamed for anyone on the other side to open the door and save them from this hell. Her family beat the massives doors alongside the hundreds of others, their screams masking the massive explosion behind them.

"Please, Help us!"

As if answering her call, the hydraulics of the door began to whine with its gears and lever unlocking. A cheer went over the crowd as the first light of the outside came through the small hole. In a space just small enough for her meager frame, her daughter Bastelia was the first to worm her way out to the screams of both of her parents following right behind her. The crowd to her front suddenly went silent as she worked her way around and found just what had stopped the hundred of people. Valltaa pushed past a turian and found her daughter at the front, a smile crept onto her face just as her eyes passed onto two lines of white armored soldiers and a feeling of dread filled her every thought.

There were two dozen stormtroopers alongside another two dozen former alliance, and every single one of them had their weapons aimed at the hundred before them. Breaking the silence, a single voice spoken with a modulated voice amplifier gave a single order.

"Open fire!"

Valltaa didn't know what happened, one second she was staring at a platoon of soldiers and the next she was on the ground staring at her daughter with purple-colored burn wounds all over her body. She too felt like she had touched a burning pan, but instead of it being her finger it was her entire body screaming out. Rolling over onto her back her head turned just enough to see the rest of the crowd running back down the tunnel with red bolts chasing them the entire way. A stormtrooper stepped over her, firing his weapon the entire time she saw the ammunition pack go dry as he reloaded another into his black colored rifle. A small cry came from her lips as her body caught up with the damage done to it moments ago, the trooper's head snapped to the ground. Bringing His muzzle up the last thing Valltaa M"nusshi would ever see is a bright red flash and the white helmet of an Imperial stormtrooper.


	14. Betrayal

**May 12, 2183 (Citadel Calendar) **

The heavens rained fire and ash across a hundred worlds, cities, once full of millions lay wasted, bastions of blood and carnage. Once mighty fortresses lay cracked open like an egg, the surviving defenders dragged from their defeated defenses and executed in the dirt of their worlds. A galaxy-wide cry went out as billions burned in the fires, as worlds shook under the raw power exerted onto them, and the ever encompassing war spread farther and farther across the stars. This was the new reality, a reality of death and carnage where in one day once peaceful worlds could be torn asunder by the unending legions of the empire.

Vetra Nyx still couldn't believe that in under two months the first Imperial ships had already broken the Asari lines and entered the terminus. The great fleets which for a thousand years had held the tide of pirates, slavers, and rebels lay shattered as hundreds of imperial warships burned their way through Asari space. Two dozen worlds, one right after the other already lay in the clutches of imperial occupation. From the galaxy view it would look like a tentacle worming its way north on the galactic plane before ending on the border of the terminus. Video captured from these planets and sent across the remains of the extranet provided a bleak picture for the usually stoic Turian.

Camps stretching from one end of the horizon to the other occupied every single world the imperial landed upon, within them the sea of blue, purple, and green skin denoting just what had become of the planet's former residents. Within the pictures taken, Vetra made out the white armored forms of her enemy. Their numbers endless, the tide of cloned flesh had swept away the armies of Matriarchs and spearheaded imperial invasion all across the former Asari space.

Then there were the rumors, whispers in bars from drunken soldiers or sailors who had served on the frontlines and fought the imperials. They spoke of something in the dark, a being black as night which shrouded itself in the fear of beings as it prowled those caught slipping. This thing, this alien being, was a weapon, a weapon controlled by the empire to instill fear and terror within the ranks of the common populace and cower them before the guns of their inexhaustible armies. Entire worlds had submitted to just the threat of these things being released upon their people, scared out of their minds the population had walked willingly into slavery rather than face down these things.

Word on the street was one had been spotted here, in the middle of the station's night cycle the black thing had been caught just at the edge of the frame on one of afterlifes security cameras. How it could have gotten here she couldn't fathom, Imperial ships were estimated to still be weeks away and already the population was running scared at just the sighting of one of their living weapons. Vetra pulled the footage on her omni tool again, stopping the frame just as the meters long tail of something out of frame latched itself into the chest of a batarian and pulled the woman out of frame.

That was a week ago, and in that time another two dozen had gone missing around afterlife and its local neighborhoods. Aria herself, the queen of Omega wouldn't admit it but she was running scared and had paid for an entire battalion of Asari commandos to guard her party castle. Six hundred Special ops commandos to guard a single pirate queen, Vetra shook her head thinking about how that muscle could be better utilized defending the station. Crime was even worse than before, in a time where the people should have been banding together they tore at each other like animals, fighting over the lowly scraps.

Last night she had shot her first-person, her first living, breathing, honest to spirits person who was just looking for a bite to eat. Coming back from the market she was always on edge, she and Sid made sure to stay out of sight out of mind, this time they had failed. It was a back alley devoid of anybody which should have been the first sign of trouble, there were people everywhere on Omega nowhere was it just empty. It was a human of course, hidden in a dumpster with nothing but a small blade made of cheap steel. He had grabbed Sid from behind, laying the brittle metal on her neck plates as he snarled toward Vetra who had pulled a pistol.

"Food, Food now!"

"Where Turians, you can't eat our food or you'll die!"

He was skin and bones, his arms covered in healing scabs, obvious signs of a user in the desolate Omega streets. His eyes narrowed at her words, uncaring of what she said he pressed the knife harder into Sid's neck which earned a yelp of pain from her sister.

"I want the food bitch, give me the food now!"

She had never shot anybody, sure she had shot a weapon but never actually at a living person. She was a good shot, always at the range she had honed her skills and knew she could do it. Her sights were lined up, his beady eyes staring down the barrel of her weapon, she pulled the trigger. The grain of steel exited the pistol and went through his skull, killing the brain in an instant and sending his body tumbling behind Sid. Her first kill, her first life taken, it had kept her up all night. It didn't help her at all-knowing one of those things was also on the station, prowling, hunting, feeding, on the citizens of Omega.

Looking out the window she took another sip of tea as she took in the Omega skyline. Hundreds of aircars thundered all across the skies with little to no coordination, how anyone survived was a miracle but here on Omega it was the way of life. Intermixed with it all she could pick out gunships of every gang and Merc band on the station.

"Vetra? Vetra are you there?"

Her com buzzed with one of her usual contacts, Marrell. He was an odd human from Earth who had come here looking for the big score, what he found was the life of smuggling.

"Merrell, Vetra here what's up?"

"Hey, listen, I need a huge favor, no questions asked but a big payout. I can't exactly do the job right now due to certain circumstances so that's why I'm asking if you'll take it?"

"And what is it?"

Merrell having a big job was an oddity, he wasn't the usual smuggler high-level buyers went too. It had only taken working with him to understand the kind of man he was, cunning, heartless, she'd watched him leave a crewman behind without a second thought. Still though, in these dark times she could use some money for more weapons and supplies.

"Alright what's the job?"

"It's too easy, simple driving from point A to B and leaving the vehicle there. There will be another car picking you up after you've dropped off the package?"

A simple drop off of a vehicle was the job, what the hell?

"How many credits are we talking for this simple drop off Merrall?"

"Five hundred thousand, they said they'd only accept the best drivers and the best drivers cost money."

That, that was a lot of credits. Enough to buy a trip out of here on one of the stealth vessels only the best smugglers used. A trip out of here to somewhere safe, somewhere like Palaven. If it meant keeping her and Sid safe then she would do anything and everything to make that possible.

"I'll take the job."

**Two hours later, Dock 217**

She was getting some bad vibes off of this already and she hadn't even gotten into the vehicle yet. The dock coordinates she had been given had led her to a barely used dock usually reserved for the lowest of scum, rich her ass Merrall must have just been pulling her leg. If they were rich then they should have been able to afford a good dock. Catching sight of her contact she noted just how wrong her assumptions had been.

Twenty humans, all in military-grade armor and all set up in defensive positions surrounding a single box truck with a large shipping container on its back. She couldn't see any faces as all their visors were black, some creepily tracked her as she entered the docks themselves and approached Merrall standing in the middle of it all.

"Merrall, I thought you couldn't take the job? What the spirits are you doing here?"

A toothy smile came over his dark face, the eyes narrowing while the nose rose in disgust, humans had so many facial expressions. One of the soldiers approached the pair and pulled his omni tool up before speaking.

"Your destination is Dock twenty-one, you will deliver the vehicle to the docks where another air car will pick you up. Do you understand your job?"

Twenty-one was right outside of afterlife and heavily guarded, it would be a death sentence to even try too...

"Don't worry Vetra, we've already gotten the clearance. The codes are loaded in the trucks identifier, and should be smooth sailing."

"How did you?"

"It doesn't matter, just deliver the truck and you'll receive your payment."

Merrall was not acting like the Merrall she knew, this was too pushy, too strict, something was off but she couldn't decipher it now. Maybe it was the soldiers and how they all kind of looked the same in terms of body, but soldiers tended to be fit. Merrall was rubbing her plates the wrong way though and alarm bells sounded off in her head when she looked at him. Then there was the soldier who had spoken, his voice sounded familiar, something odd about it.

"The money had been transferred to your account, deliver the package."

The soldier left the two smugglers with that and headed back to the defensive circle surrounding the truck.

"See, simple, easy job. Deliver the truck and be done with this, here's the keys."

Vetra grabbed the keys and headed to the truck, pulling herself into the cab she checked over the controls before taking a peek at her accounts.

"Oh, oh my spirits."

Five hundred thousand credits had been transferred from an unknown bank, she had the money to get out of here. All she had to do was deliver the truck now and be done with this. Starting up the engines she took a look at the soldiers surrounding her before taking off and making her way to afterlife.

**Afterlife**

Sergeant Lisu hated the direction Eclipse as an organization had gone in. Gone were the days of raiding out of the way colonies and pocketing massive amounts of wealth for a nice retirement check one day where she could live out the rest of her life in thessia. Gone were the freedoms she could use to do anything, go anywhere, and be anything she wanted. Looking down at the Avenger between her legs she thought of just what exactly she was now. Hired muscle, a gun for hire, a soldier without a real cause. She'd been a commando, a real asari commando for goddess sake and here she was now, guarding a fucking night club beside hundreds of other Asari on Omega.

A pair of headlights coming toward her broke her out of her self pity, activating her omni tool she checked over the vehicle's registration and noted the current codes before getting off her ass.

"First squad with me!"

Eight other Asari fell in beside her as they got onto the dock usually reserved for the high-class elite entering afterlife. It would be suicidal for anything, even the imperials to attack this place. Snipers dotted the upper catwalks with the best anti-tank rifles money could buy, antiair guns swiveled toward any air traffic dumb enough to come to close to the building itself. Companies of Asari patrolled varying parts of the club itself, sandbags, machine guns, they had it all and were more than willing to use it all. Every Asari was a master biotic to boot, years of training and usage all across the terminus made them experts in their field. Nobody, and she meant nobody would dare attack this place.

The air truck came in for a landing on the closest pad, swiveling in the air until its cargo bay faced the squad of Asari before powering down its engines. The cab opened as the Squad fanned out around the rear of the truck and a female Turian stepped out.

"Identification and statement of business."

"Oh, ah my boss did not give me a reason per se, just to land the truck here."

"Are you, alright, then you wouldn't mind us looking in the back of your truck to make sure nothing is amiss now would you?"

If it was something expensive than Lisu would look the other way if her squad skimmed a little off the top, there were always opportunities to make money in this business even if it meant fucking over your boss a little.

"Fal, open the container!"

Fal, a newbie sort of had only been in her squad for three weeks when this job came down. She had come from one of the gangs here and it showed in the way she brutally fought her opponents. She was keen with a blade, and more than willing to drop her weapons in favor of stabbing her opponents up close. The Turian started to shake a little bit and was looking everywhere but the truck for something, odd. Fal gripped the handles of the door of the container and wretched both open with a show of biotic strength, Lisu was still looking at the Turian when something pulled Fal into the box and her world shattered.

**Vetra**

simple job, simple job. She was to park the truck, leave it there and catch a ride out of afterlife and back to the apartment. The money was already transferred, she was home free after she parked this damn truck. Landing on the pad wasn't bad, took a little swiveling of the controls but she hit the deck just right. She got out and found the security team already there, all Asari of course. Then came the questions, questions she didn't have a response too and then came the cold dread in her stomach. Where was her ride, it was supposed to be here so where the hell was it? The Asari wanted the container opened which was fine by her, the leader directed one of her troops to open it while Vetra scanned all around her for the ride she was promised.

The soldier's voice from the dock had been nagging at her mind ever since she had left, something about it which just didn't seem right. The soldier pulled open the doors in a show of strength, Vetra saw something blackout of the corner of her eye before every fear gland within her body exploded in terror.

"What the fuc-"

Monsters, the monster of nightmares flooded out of the truck. She didn't stare, she didn't try to help the squad, she ran, oh spirits she ran. Crunching, skittering claws on metal, and the screams of Asari flooded her auditory senses. The guards had finally begun to take notice, the snipers on the roof already firing on the creatures behind her but in seconds they were already done for. One climbed up a wall using only its claws to the roof, the snipers didn't notice until one of their number was clawed in half. She passed into the building just as a body fell off the rood and thudded onto the pavement beside her.

Dozens of Asari rushed past her, none caring for the single Turian making her way through the crowd and into Afterlife itself. Guns, guns, and nothing but guns lined the place from floor to ceiling. Gone were the dance floor and their usual drunken partygoers, replaced by sandbags and other fortifications sporting heavy machine guns and terrified soldiers. The bar at the edge of the former club now held an anti-tank cannon of all things, exclusively manned by four krogan she could see them loading shells as the screams behind her drew closer.

"What the hell is going on out there!"

It was the woman herself, the queen of Omega, its leader incarnate, Aria T'Loak.

"Ma'am, out cordon reports, their reporting monsters tearing apart everything outside!"

"Get me a vid feed!"

Above the bar, security feeds came to life which covered every part of the building. Alleyways, the roof, even the basement which Vetra hadn't known about. All of it covered by a closed-circuit TV, and all showing the carnage of monsters. On the roof one of them prowled, its black carapace exoskeleton gleaming in the fires which covered the roof. Saliva dripped from its open mouth while it scanned every hole, corner, and bunker left on the roof. Like a machine it left no stone unturned, no bunker unchecked, and nobody still breathing. Approaching a downed Asari Vetra noticed the form's eyes snap open as a clawed foot landed in front of her face. Vetra turned away when she heard the scream and a wet snapping sound.

"Turn that shit off and find your courage, you're supposed to be Asari commandos for goodness sake! Where is your discipline! Where are the warriors we are known for!"

"Dead!"

"Who said that!"

Coming from the same double door Vetra had just come from, a very familiar Asari stomped through. Purple blood covered her from head to toe while one of her arms was missing from the joint down, her face bore several freely bleeding scars while she looked to the queen of Omega.

"I just came from outside, fighting those monsters your highness, and i'll tell you what. Everyones fucking dead. Every single one of my commandos died outside along with every QRF unit we had, and it all thanks to that turian piece of shit right there!"

Weapons came up alongside the hateful stares of every warrior within the club, even Aria arched her head to the now singled out Turian standing in the center of it all.

"And who the hell are you? Seize her, torture anything you can out of her and dump the body for those things to gnaw on. Now get this place secure!"

Two commandos grabbed Vetra on either side while another slammed the butt of her rifle in her face, everything went black.

**Unknown place, cold.**

Arms tied behind her back, head bowed toward the floor, Vetra felt the roller coaster of emotions hitting her body from the last hour. She understood now, that voice, the soldiers on the dock and why they had all seemingly looked the same. It had been a clone, a fucking clone, face to face with her and she hadn't even noticed. Merrall, he was working with them, getting them onto the station without anyone noticing. They were all in danger, Sid was in danger and she, she was the reason.

Those monsters had been in the truck she had flown here, dropped off and set loose upon afterlife. How many people would die due to her actions, how many innocent people were eaten alive by those things?

"You heard what command said?"

"What about the radio silence, yeah but of bullshit to keep us here."

"I heard alpha companies all but gone, ripped apart by those monsters outside."

"Ya know, we need to come up with a name for them other than monsters. Something fitting."

"Shit, I don't know. Hey the bitch is awake!"

A blue-colored hand grabbed just under her chin, pulling her face up so that it was staring into the tech armor of an eclipse mercenary. She had a cruel smirk, and eyes that spoke of the horrors about to be conducted on her body. Vetra shivered at what was about to happen, shaking under the Asaris grip the merc let out a chuckle before releasing her.

"So you work for the empire huh? DIdn't think they would use any aliens, must be getting desperate here on Omega."

The other Asari began laying out a series of tools next to the chair Vetra was strapped to. Archaic looking devices, each spoke of cruelty she could only imagine and was about to endure. A buzzing in the Asaris armor took their attention away from their tools, their hands going to their mics both of their faces went white with the words.

"Oh shit, oh shit, we gotta get the fuck outta here!"

Neither Asari gave a thought to the turian still strapped to the chair as they slammed the door open to the storage closet they had been in and sprinted down the hallway. Gunshots came from somewhere in the building, screams, explosions, the whumps of devices detonating throughout the building. More yellow armored Asaru sprinted in front of her door carrying all manner of weapons, leaving the Turian stuck to a chair.

Gathering her wits, she bent over at the waist and began biting at the rope tying her to the chair's arms. It wasn't going easy, a thick industrial cord made of synthetic fiber was tough to break with a knife, with her teeth nearly impossible. But she tried, rubbing her teeth till they bled, riding the edges of her facial plates till they broke, she tried everything she could to cut at cords binding her to this place. Then she heard it, intermixed with the gunfire she heard the unmistakable sound, anyone, in the galaxy now associated with the empire. The sound of an energy weapon, the sound of the coming empire, and something even worse. A hiss, a hiss of something dark, monstrous, creeping around in the dark and killing anything that moved.

Blood flowed freely from her face, the blue liquid streaming down her now ruined faceplates as she frantically chewed at the wire. Tears began going down her plates as muffled sobs came out of her ruined mouth, she prayed to the spirits, the ancestors, hell she even prayed to the human god she had heard about once. She tried anything and everything possible to get her away from the monsters.

"Sid, please forgive, I just wanted to keep you safe, please forgive me!"

Something had heard her, the fighting had died down and now there was only the occasional scream of somebody being chewed apart or shot in the building. A fire had erupted somewhere in the hallway, the smoke of it now filling up the small space and beginning to choke her lungs as she tried to breathe through her ruined face. The faintest tap of a talon on tile came from right outside the door, her eyes shot to the open space in pure terror as she cried out against her fate. In those seconds she swore she would end Merrall, save Sid, and get the hell off of Omega, she would not die here, she would not accept her fate, she would fight back with all her being-

A clawed hand gripped the edge of the door, saliva spilled along its edge until the bulbous head of the most terrifying thing she had ever seen in her entire life slowly edged around the frame.

Its mouth dripped saliva while its talons were coated in the purple blood of an Asari. The monster's head searched the room like a machine, scanning back and forth as its entire body uncoiled to its full height in the frame of the door. It was so oddly shaped, so unlike anything else in the galaxy, so alien. Its head stopped on her, no eyes to speak of but she could feel it searching up and down her body as it slowly edged its way too large head forward until it was inches away from her face. She smelt its breath, the carnage on its teeth from its previous victims.

"Alpha team move up!"

A modulated voice and pounding feet sounded off from the hallway, the creature turned at the voice and began making its way out of the room. Stopping as a fireteam of imperial troopers passed her without a glance and continued.

"Roger, this is Killteam, We have all hostiles down in section two alpha. Roger, we are moving."

The alien followed the clones down the hall, its feet pounding the floor as it moved with its fellow killers. A clone in full armor stopped in front of the doorway, his helmet was busy staring at a trackpad on his wrist until a single droplet of blood smacked into a puddle at her feet. Hearing this his head snapped to her still strapped to the chair. His other hand went to a pistol on his waist as he made his way into the room. The barrel coming up to rest just in front of her face.

"Who the hell are you, Alien?"

**Eden Prime** **May 12, 2183**

The trench shook again as another bout of shells landed somewhere along their lines, the impactful booms sending up massive geysers of mud into the already soggy trench. He ducked his head as an aircraft screamed overhead, who it belonged to he didn't know as it went skyward and out of sight. All along the line, tens of thousands of alliance marines held their ground as the bombardment continued for hours on end, day after day, night after night, until it was as common as the sun rising.

Eden prime used to be a nice world, a world of treasure and gardens it had housed twenty million people before this war. Then came the incident with the Geth, and then the empire. The system patrol fleet had been sunk just hours after the imperial left the relay. The flaming mass of ships entering the atmosphere was a sign of what was to come. Two days after the ship battle, the first dropships landed upon this war-ravaged world and the ground fight began. After the Geth attack, alliance high command had seen to the deployment of two hundred thousand alliance marines to garrison the area in case of another Geth attack.

Those marines were now the only thing standing between imperial domination and the lives of the planet's population. Two hundred thousand, shipped straight from the earth and plopped down onto the alliance's most successful colony. Tanks, guns, mines, and the expertise to use them would have made this colony hell for any invader, if it hadn't been for the turncoats.

In every world across alliance and terminus space, there were those who agreed and supported the ethics of the empire. Those who would willingly submit to the wider power in exchange for their request of power. Many within Alliance HIGH COM couldn't understand how armies would falter in days, their supply lines cut and command and control gutted but those on the ground and in the ranks knew. They knew, for they had seen the simmering tension beneath it all ever since they had first come onto the galactic stage.

Those within the ranks who held, ideals close to their chest, those who were unwilling to expose said ideals for fear of repercussion. They were deemed racist by the greater galactic society, and any hint of their feelings would lead to career and social suicide. Now, with the war on their shores these people could act on these ideals and pave the way for a greater future for humanity. For years they had sat, watching, waiting, as further alien aggression hindered humanities ascension onto the galactic stage. They had seen a galactic government more than willing to sacrifice others for the betterment of themselves, a people unwilling to stand beside them as equals.

If they wouldn't stand beside them as equals, then they, the people of humanity would see them burn. In a galaxy unwilling to see them for what they were, they would all burn. It began as any other mutiny, whispers in the night from the enlisted as they gathered in their barracks. It started with Sergeants, then lieutenants, captains and colonels until it finally hit the ranks like wildfire. All talk at first, no one questioned the soldier's ability to think for themselves in times of peril, no one suspected any would act out on these feelings of hatred for the aliens around them.

They came in the night, and no one suspected a thing. Officers deemed loyalists were purged quickly and efficiently across a dozen brigades, their juniors stepping up to take charge for the rebel elements as more and more units quietly pledged themselves to the imperial cause. This purge of officers finally broke into the enlisted ranks and soldiers who gallantly served the alliance were gathered together after having been pulled out of their bunks. None suspected insurrection, as they were soldiers and alerts like this were common in wartime as the military needed to be ready at a moment's notice. None batted an eye as high ranking officers inspected their ranks, none gave as shout as they were loaded onto trucks and were told they were heading to their muster areas.

It was when these trucks stopped that shouts of alarm were raised, as the beds were pulled open and the proud soldiers of the alliance were torn from the vehicles and onto the ground. Some yelled at their attackers, screams of rank, heraldry, and standing until the loyalist looked upon their fellows and noticed the absence of alliance insignia. Gone was the proud blue symbol of the systems alliance, gone were the unit patches denoting them as members of the SA Marines. In their place, a symbol that had become an object of dread all over the galaxy stood in its place. The imperial cog wheel stood proud on their chest as they mushed the loyalist along. Most screamed traitor, or went wide-eyed at seeing the hated symbol on an alliance armor set. Yelling, screaming, it didn't matter to the imperial turncoats as they corralled their brothers and sisters in arms together before finally announcing their intentions.

It was quiet across units all of the planet, the long silence, the longest silence many had ever felt. In every turncoat's mind a question was asked as they stared down their brethren now surrounded in muster areas everywhere. Would they do this? Were they willing to gun down their fellow soldiers in cold blood in the name of the empire? Could they physically bring themselves to pull the trigger on the people they called brother, sister, commander, and sergeant? How many years had they served with them, through thick and thin, through battle after battle they had served alongside these people as comrades in arms. How could they do this?

The silence by a single man as the order was given by officers with nervousness in their voices, a gunshot reverberated across the entire planet as the minds of the now imperial soldiers were made up. This was for humanity they said, this was for their sons and daughter who would live in a better future. This was for the generations that would follow them and so on and so on. Hard decisions needed to be made in times like these, they were the instruments of their destiny, and they had chosen their path. One was followed by two, then five, then eight, fifty, two hundred, until every single gun aimed at the loyalist fired in defiance of their former loyalties.

It was not the same across the entire planet, as some did not harbor the courage needed to pull the trigger on their fellow man. For every unit who willingly massacred their fellow soldiers, another would harbor doubt, questioning themselves before finally lowering their weapons and pulling off the imperial symbols on their chest. Many would later commit suicide, under orders or otherwise as they would never be trusted by their fellow soldiers ever again.

These units, those that had survived the great purge of Eden prime now led the defense of twenty million souls as the imperial armada closed upon the planet. Their former brethren, having welcomed the imperials in open arms, fought alongside white armored stormtroopers as they solidified their loyalties to their new empire. These two groups now hounded each other along battle lines stretching the entire planet. No quarter was given by either, as they both harbored hatreds far beyond the normalities of battle now. On one side, the soldiers of the alliance fought with courage as they held back the tide of imperial might and the turncoat responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands. On the other, the imperial army alongside these newest additions blasted their way through alliance lines as the turncoats spearheaded any advance given. None, save for maybe the batarians knew how to fight the alliance marines better than themselves.

Corporal Scott ducked as another shell impacted along the muddy trench, how much could he hold it together he thought as the earth itself shook with power. The Ryder twin was hurrying between defensive works, spreading thermal clips and grenades for the coming imperial attack he had been tasked with making sure everyone was ready for what was coming. For three days they had held this line, for three days they had stood bloodied as the bodies piled up in the dozens while the enemy kept coming. Alpha company, two thirty-third Marines had held the line against their former kin, time and time again they had been close to breaking. Time and time again it was Scott going through the trenches with a fireteam and clearing them out, having to make the split-second decision of friend or foe in life or death situations. Twice the imperials had broken into the trench, twice he had killed another human being who had grown up on earth. He collected their tags now, every time he would go through any enemy dead and collect their tags hoping to not find the one name he couldn't bear to read out here. Entering a machine gun nest, his feet hit the wooden floorboards as another shell impacted less than twenty meters away.

The three marines in the bunker shielded themselves from the flying dirt before bringing their heads up and eyeing the newest occupant.

"Holy shit Ryder, only you would be out in a barrage handing out ammo eh?"

"Yeah Tyson, gotta be ready at all times don't we?"

"Shit, your right about that. How many clips you got for my MG, last attack burned through a lot of ammo and we could use more, damn imperials will never let up."

Scott looked beyond the dugout and looked to the muddied field beyond, the war had a way of changing the scenery of a place and in three days the once verdant pastures of Eden prime were now something out of a nightmare. Wrecked Makos were strewn across the field of battle, their burning hulks now the resting place of dozens of imperials who had used their armored bodies for cover. In between the wrecks stood the dark reminders of just who they were fighting out here on the eastern flank of the alliance's defensive bastion. Blue armor, now sinking into the mud could be spotted everywhere he looked. The dead, all former alliance, all now bearing the symbol of the empire lay in their hundreds to the front of the alliance lines. Some were blown to bits, some cut down by gunfire, but Scott saw them for what was under that armor, human. Every time he went into no man's land he grabbed the tags of every dead body he could and read their names, patching them down into alliance records he recorded each death to the minute and the place of their resting. Most saw it as stupid, saying the traitors deserved nothing and hoped their families suffered as all traitors should. Scott saw it as a way of searching, looking for the one name he would never believe could turn their back on him.

"Yeah, yeah they sure as hell won't. Here are some clips, just make sure you're not wasting any."

"Shit, you know me, Ryder, if it's used to kill an imperial it's never a waste in my books."

Scott moved on, leaving the dugout he began to make his way to the next defensive position as a sense of dread began to fill his stomach. For what reason he couldn't understand, stopping halfway to his next resupply point he couldn't figure out what was causing dread until his ears finally recognized what was missing. The bombardment had stopped, the shells no longer sang their tunes of destruction, they were coming, the empire was coming at them again. Rushing back the way he came, Scott traversed the trenchworks as new sounds entered his helmet's audio filters and the situation became clearer and clearer.

"This is alpha two-four, we have imperials three hundred meters to our front! Clones, say again we have clones intermixed with traitors! Requesting back up!"

"Alpha two-four, you are cleared to engage anything to your front!"

The chain-like sound of Alliance issued machine guns opening up now sounded across the entire front. Intermixed, Scott could barely make out the imperial return fire as red lasers splashed over the earthworks and into the defenders. His objective following an attack was to rendezvous at the HQ and take charge of the QRF for the trench work. Four marines would be waiting for him on standby, waiting for the order of a break in the line or a stronger than usual imperial attack. Slamming into the command bunker he was met with the screaming and stressed faces of his leadership and they scoured over holo tables and radio sets.

"Alpha two-four hold your position, we're sending QRF your way now! Ryder!"

Scott had just finished entering the underground complex as the captain looked to the overly stressed corporal.

"Yes sir!"

"Bunker three is under heavy fire, clones have them pinned down. Relieve them!"

"Yes sir, QRF with me!"

The four marines followed the Junior NCO out and into the hellscape of trench warfare. An imperial gunship thundered overhead as they moved toward the frontline, its bubble turret's on either side sprayed green lines of death and destruction before a missile impacted the cockpit and threw the craft to the ground. White-hot fire enveloped the earth overhead before spilling into the trench, the marines paid no mind as they rushed through the flames and pushed on, their armor protecting them for the seconds of danger.

Bunker three was the most forward position and called for the longest travel time from HQ to location. Two minutes at a full sprint winded the marines but they knew every second could mean the death of another marine. A minute thirty they could hear the imperial gunfire, a minute forty-five they could hear the screams of alliance marines, a minute fifty their eyes were on the attacking force. Bunker three was overrun, the attackers, all clad in the blue of alliance marines, were busy finishing off the survivors with gunshots to the head as Scotts QRF finally arrived. The leader had her foot on the chest of Alpha two-four, the muzzle of her rifle aimed at the faceplate of the wounded marine let off a single round before she looked to the newcomers screaming into the defense work.

"Marines open fire!"

It was five on five in the enclosed space off less than ten meters, this close every shot hit their mark as both sides let loose with automatic fire. The life signs of his team went red in seconds, three going down in the first five as he sprayed rounds into the traitorous marines. As his weapon clicked, indicating that it had overheated he noted four of the traitors falling in their spouts of blood and gore before resting his eyes on the commander and noting she was in the same predicament. Scott dropped his weapon and went for his Omni blade, closing the distance he noted the other doing the same as their blades clashed in orange sparks of superheated blades of light. With his other hand he went for the traitor's throat, only to be pushed aside and throat chopped by his enemy. His armor took the brunt of the blow but it was enough for his arm to waver and her blade to nick his arm as it came down. Separating from each other, Scott brought his blade up in defense just as the traitor slashed downwards in a ball of fury. Each move he made she countered as they ensnared themselves in close quarter battle, every move she made he pushed aside as if it was a sparring match. Each a warrior of the same calling, each trained and molded into the soldier they were today. Through it all he noted the corporal stripes on her chest, a Junior NCO just like him, thrust onto the frontlines by their own greater powers. He couldn't see her face as she couldn't see his, both had their visors polarized as they clashed once more, blades throwing sparks in either direction.

They were too evenly matched he thought, and if this kept up more imperials would come and he would just get shot down and left to rot. He needed to end this now, he needed a way to get an advantage and finish this traitor off quickly. No doubt command was razing hell all across the net about bunker three. His opponent pulled her blade back in a guard position, eyeing his visor she began to circle him as he did her. The way she moved seemed so similar, which was odd as she was in armor and everyone looked the same under armor but it was something tickling the back of his mind. These thoughts vanished as she came for another attack, he hadn't expected her toe thrust so forcefully for his face and had barely brought up his own blade as it slashed downward and across his visor. The protective glass shattered as the blade tore a line through it before cracking it all, the fear of glass in his eyes vanished in an instant as he felt the red hot tip of an Omni blade slice down the side of his face and through his left eye with an audible pop. His vision going dizzy he fell backward and his attacker fell with him and into his guard. They both landed onto the muddy floor of the bunker, him pushing her blade away just enough to get it off his face as the two struggled for dominance. If she won this fight his head would be carved in two, if he won she would be sliced at the waist and cut in half. Locked in this battle of strength he screamed out in fury as orange sparks began to burn at his flesh.

"Fuck you traitor!"

His words suddenly gave her pause, her strength suddenly subsiding enough to allow him the opportunity to push with his blade and throw off his attacker. With a thud, she slammed into the bunkers earthen wall while he scrambled to his feet, with one eye he raised himself to finish the job when his attacker threw up an arm and spoke for the first time.

"Scott?"

The fight left his body in an instant, no, no, this can't be, no, FUCK NO!

"Sarah?"

One arm still holding a blade, she used her other to click a button on her helmet and depolarize her visor.

"Scott, oh my god Scott, how the, your eye!"

His sister, the one name he had been searching for every time he left the wire to search bodies, now stared into his one eye with a look of pain and suffering.

"Sarah, how could you."

The pain in his voice was evident, the hurt of seeing his sister wearing the imperial symbol upon her chest, mind-numbingly cold.

"Scott, you're a loyalist, why?"

"What do you mean why? Why would I turn my back on my home, how could you side with the empire! Their fucking murderers Sarah, no, no, you didnt…. You were part of the purge? Weren't you!"

A hurt came over her eyes again, then fury.

"No Scott, my unit sided with the empire fully, not a single loyalist."

"So you didn't participate in the purge?"

"No, fuck. I didn't know what had happened to you, shit your eye. Hold on, I've got some medigel it should help.."

She lowered her blade, her hands going to her belt while she strode over to Scott who responded with a raising of his blade.

"Get the fuck away from me traitor."

Her eyes went wide as he raised his blade, backing off she looked hurt under the armor.

"Scott what the fuck, you're my brother for christ sake!"

Scott looked to the dead on the ground, Alliance and imperial he couldn't tell the difference under all the blood.

"Look, I, I can't accept what you have done right now. You might be my sister but you've betrayed the alliance and everyone back on earth, you betrayed dad, you betrayed me and everyone you swore to protect. How fucking could you Sarah?"

A sudden stiffness entered her posture as she bent down and picked up an M8 off the ground. Eyes still on him she reloaded the weapon while he looked around his own feet and found nothing within reach. Slowly and cooly she reloaded the thermal clip before looking at Scott with a coldness entering her voice.

"I did what any sane human should do for the betterment of their people, we've struggled under alien aggression long enough and it's time we take what is rightfully ours Scott. Its time we do right by us, let the rest burn for all I fucking care. You bring up dad, earth, all the people I swore to protect, well I'll tell you what. Those people I swore to protect were human, human Scott, not some scum-sucking alien here to take us for everything we have. I'm sorry it's come to this but, you're on the other side Scott, the wrong side of history."

His sister was going to gun him down in some bunker no one would ever remember. Thoughts of his eye-popping filled his head as a tube of medi gel closed the distance between them, his hand catching the medical object.

"I can't bring myself to gun down my brother, I've done a lot of shit since this all began but that's one road I will not cross. Your units have been overrun and routed, Imperial forces are pushing on to the bastion."

Turning for the entrance to the bunker he saw his sister repolarize her visor as she spoke through a softer voice and what sounded like quiet sobs.

"Get out of here Scott, get rid of that armor. I don't want to see you on the battlefield again."

As she entered the trenchwork beyond he heard a quiet apology.

"I'm sorry Scott."


	15. I'm Sorry

**May 13, 2183 Coruscant**

In the usually busy streets of coruscant, where fifty billion people worked, lived, and died it was quiet. On every television screen and every billboard capable of doing so, the feeds broadcast a single image of the imperial cog wheel onto the screen as the world watched and waited for their kinds savior to begin. He was their emperor, their lord who had led them through strife and panic, through war which had lasted centuries. He had ensured human dominance across the stars and fulfilled every promise for he was their, their lord, and he would do nothing else. Since the dark days of humanities death by their own hand, he had led them to greatness, and he would lead them to more.

Suddenly the screen changed to a view from within the imperial palace, where a podium had been set up with the flag galactic empire set behind the speaking post. In front of these flags stood the emperors chosen, his personal legionnaires selected from the best of the best within the imperial army. Their white armor, broken with blue segments on pauldrons and helmets stood in stark contrast to the blood-red of the imperial flag behind them. fifty billion souls in homes across the planet watched and waited beside their families right beside them for the emperor was about to speak.

The legionnaires went to attention, this was it, what they had been waiting for, this is what they had been made for. Protectors of the empire, and guardians of the emperor, they were his best and would ensure his safety till the end of days. Breaking the scene, a man in a crisp uniform denoting humanity's highest lord slowly but surely made his way onto the screen. Each badge, each ribbon, each color breaking up the blackness of it all denoted some great victory or test of honor. A campaign ribbon for a thousand worlds successfully conquered by the warriors of man, a stripe along the left arm to signify his years of service to his people, his shoulders which looked sagging under the weight of his rank. This man, this old man who for three hundred years had led humanity across the stars finally made his way onto the podium and looked into the camera lens broadcasting his image across the empire.

It was the eyes, that's what everyone's noticed first whenever they had first seen the emperor. Though his appearance was of an aged human male somehow standing the test of time, it was the eyes that captivated the masses into doing his bidding. They held fury, anger, hatred, a willingness to do anything needed and the marshal will to follow through with what they preached and a righteous zeal that could shake the stars with a single glare.

"My people, sons, and daughters of Coruscant. I stand before you, as I had three hundred years ago when we as a people took our first steps into our galaxy. For many years, we as a people stood divided in those days. Oppressed by an uncaring alien race willing to kill off those deemed garbage, now. Years later, three hundred years later, the human race now stands as the powerful military force in the history of not one, but two galaxies. As many of you already know, the Galactic Empire now stretches the vast distance of two galaxies, our armies, our armadas, march to war against threats on all sides.

In these dark times, it once again falls upon your will which shall decide our future as a species. In these dark times, we stand at a crossroads whose ramifications shall shatter worlds.

In these dark times, I call upon you, every citizen of the empire, to do what is needed for you, your brother, your sister, mother, and father. Through the years we have suffered periods of strife, times where we as a people must bear the brunt of our wars across the stars to push back the alien menace. The peace we hold, here at home, depends on our continued march burning its way across the stars in the hope, one day we will forever know peace.

But those times, the era of peace we wished for so long, has now left our grasp, for in these stars we now look upon a call has been put forth by the races of this galaxy. We have borne the brunt of war before, we had fought and bled, and we shall do so again in the name of our people, and our way of life.

So as of today, I, the emperor, am enacting a general conscription for all citizens aged eighteen to twenty-five. Many of you will of course ask, but why my lord, do the armies of man stand on the brink? Do the clones sent off to fight a thousand battles stand close to defeat? No, No they do not, for the sons of the empire hold back the alien tide as they tread upon alien world after alien world. They fight the good fight so that we as a species do not know war, but they were made for a different war. A war that did not threaten the very heart of humanity, a war far away from here.

We stand on the brink, and now you will answer the calls to war not seen since the beginning of the empire. On a thousand battlefields, our enemy asks a simple question. Do you want total war?

I have only this.

Before us lies humanities destiny!

In us marches the spirit of mankind!

And behind us, the will of man follows!

My people, I say only this, for the Empire!"

**Unkown location, Imperial custody.**

They, these imperials had broadcasted the speech to every cell within the hall of horrors. The blaring voice of the so-called emperor almost busting out his eardrums near the end. At least it was lit, brightly lit at that, all clean metal surfaces and shining light allowing every space of his cell to be surveyed and checked by the roving guards. Across from him he could see Liara in her own cell, knees in her chest she had been sitting like that for he didn't know with the lack of sun, only moving to eat or use the toilet. How long had he been here exactly? He could try to use the guards shift changes as a way of telling time but it was useless trying to discern one from another as they all looked the same.

To pass the time he went over every battle he had fought against the empire, going over every detail over and over again to find a way to beat them one day. Every day went like this, starting with the Normandy and ending with Adri Prime. The vents replacing in his mind brought back the pain, the shivering chills running down his spine. The image of a crewman being bodily dragged into smoke and torn apart, another of an Asari village attempting to fend off an imperial assault. He'd noted the slip-ups from time to time, what to do better next time. For one, armor-piercing rounds were now a must, as was every fucked up weapon conjured up from the terminus which dealt the maximum amount of damage possible when fighting imperial troops.

The way they fought was so unlike the citadel races, where they conducted battle with cunning and technology the empire fought with bruteness. Where the citadel would send a single ship to counter a threat, the empire would send a fleet, where citadel militaries relied on small units to act out their goals the empire relied on massed formations of identical soldiers who harbored the ability to turn worlds to powder with their very steps. It was all so vastly different it was almost crazy.

Even the fields which acted as the door to his cell were different, in the systems alliance mass effect fields would act as the barrier separating inmates from wardens. Here, it was a red glow barely picked up by the human eye made and pure energy which kept him in his cage. This was his life now he guessed, to be locked up in some unknown hell hole and forgotten. The hero of the citadel, Lion of Elysium, survivor of Akuze, butcher of Torfan, a trophy for some imperial emperor collected and disposed of.

His melancholy was broken by the outline of two clones as the front of his cell, both wore those skirts and both sported pauldrons on their shoulders. He wouldn't go without a fight, he saw the red light dip and one walk in, in an instant he was on him. Shooting off his metal bed he launched himself at the clone but stopped short as a stun baton stabbed into his side, stabbing him into the floor with arcing electricity drifting over his pain-wracked body. He screamed, oh he screamed until a voice he had heard only moments earlier broke the stillness of the air.

"Commander that is enough, put cuffs on him, and bring him here."

"Yes my lord."

Upon recovering from the electrically induced pain his first thought was oh shit, his eyes going wide as he looked into the face of the emperor himself. He didn't notice as a pair of cuffs was slammed into his hands, nor did he notice him standing on his own two feet.

"He doesn't look like a hero, does he? Come, we have matters to discuss Shepard."

Walking behind this odd being was a thing of mystery. Cells upon cells of decrepit figures met his eyes as he finally saw just what had been around him for the time he had spent here. There were aliens he had never seen before of all types, flora, amphibians, mammals, all locked with his eyes as he passed. Each looking at him but not into him, their eyes he could see, they held no light, only anguish in this dark place. He passed machines sitting deathly still in their cells, their optics tracking him as he passed, the darkness within almost speaking to him on some other level. He passed creature after creature who looked as if their souls had died until they came to a checkpoint garrisoned by a dozen clones. None gave a word to their party, parting like the seas of old he passed with the emperor into an elevator whose doors closed as soon as he entered. In the elevator he eyed the ruler of this mankind, an older man in an aging military uniform he did not look like he could order the deaths of billions but it was when he turned and looked at Shepard.

Cold, they were so damn cold those bluish brown eyes, in them, he could see it all. Every order, every call for war, every act committed to the empire and all of it ordered by this man, no this creature before him.

He was not a man, he was a thing, like the clones. Less than a human being and so was every other human within this gods damned empire. How could they do this, how could they do any of this in good faith and be so blind to what their government perpetuated across the stars? How many billions or even trillions of beings had died due to the acts of this government and a populace unwilling to fight back? Why the hell didn't they fight back? He just couldn't fathom it all, he was a free man, a man who would not yield or bow to some pompous emperor like the ilk around him. He was Commander John Shepard, the hero of humanity, and he would not bow.

"Commander, I'm guessing you're wondering why I wish to speak to you?"

Shepard didn't answer, waiting for the ilk to turn to him, giving him the go-ahead to speak.

"You know, you may speak commander, this is a two-sided conversation."

Shepard eyed the clones standing as still as corpses around them, then eyed the emperor once more.

"I find it a little odd that you would kill my entire crew, burn a planet, and massacre an entire village just to speak to me."

No emotion, not even a hint of sorrow in his eyes, as he spoke, the emperor harbored nothing.

"Yes, your continued defiance was noted by my commanders in the field, it was determined that to break your will acts of violence would be needed. As you can see, those acts were successful in capturing you and your party."

"Fucking monsters…"

"Excuse me Commander?"

"I said you're a bunch of fucking monsters."

"Ah, theirs that defiance, you know we're not monsters correct? We do these acts of bloodshed, these acts of violence for one reason, our people."

"Your people? Your people needed a world cleansed of everything nonhuman? Your people needed three Asari skinned alive for what, to prove a shitty point!"

The last word earned him a punch to the torso from the clone beside him, keeling over Shepard regained his wits before speaking again.

"In the two weeks since your empire entered our galaxy you have brought nothing but destruction and death to a hundred worlds, and I have a single question, why?"

"Why?"

"Why is any of this necessary.."

The door to the elevator opened to the bright yellow sun of this world basking it in light. Shepard's eyes winced in pain at first, unused to the natural light it took a minute for him to adjust while a clone behind him pushed him into the light.

"Why you ask Shepard, why do we do what we must, why must we take it upon ourselves to defend what is rightfully ours? Look around and ask that question again and you yourself will find the answer."

Eyes adjusting Shepard brain finally began recognizing to the best of its ability just what was around him, and it was beautiful. He had been on the citadel, he had been on ilium before its cracking, hell he'd seen the megacities back on earth but none stood a chance of besting what he saw now. It wasn't the light of a sun which had blinded, it was a planet, a planet of metal and light on which not a single patch of green or blue shone through its mighty clouds. A great steel ball of metal and people, a city covering an entire planet the likes of which had never been seen in this galaxy until now.

"How….."

"Years Shepard, years of work and strife, and fighting for what we are. Human. Look upon what we can accomplish as a species, look upon what we have done, look upon what we shall do to continue our way of life. Commander, bring the prisoner in please."

One of the clones left with a nod.

"You are said to be the hero of the citadel, defender of your way of life that we look upon in contempt. Contempt all citizens of the empire share as they look upon fellow members of their race so willing to lay down and submit."

Shepard was forced to his knees by his guards, allowing the emperor to bend at the waist and get to eye level with the commander.

"I look upon you, hero, in disgust for your ways. I look upon you and I see weakness, I see everything wrong with this galaxy. There are threats beyond your comprehension, threats far beyond here. So I now ask you Commander John Shepard, will you rise to meet these threats or fall as your galaxy will?"

What the fuck? Did he ask him to join the empire?

"You killed my crew, you killed my team, you killed everyone I held dear and near to my heart."

Shepard spit, landing upon the emperor's face as he pulled back to his full height.

"I'll die before I ever submit to your empire of lies, I'll watch you burn before I ever wear that symbol you hold so dearly your fucking highness."

The emperor sighed, his frame bending slightly as a door opened behind Shepard.

"As I thought, weak and without vision, as are all so-called heroes of the empire long gone."

Shepard brow went up.

"What you thought you were the first, no, you are only another in a long line of nobodies who dare challenge their betters. And you will die the same, a nobody forgotten by his people as their civilization burned around them. Commander, please bring our newest member of the empire here please."

Shepard kept his eyes on the emperor the entire time, but in the far reaches of his vision he saw someone he could barely accept to recognize. Brown hair, brown eyes, a green imperial officer uniform. No, no god no, please no!

"Ah, you do recognize her! Commander Shepard, please recognize newly promoted Lieutenant Ashely Williams, Imperial army."

The emperor bent down and put a hand on his shoulder, face inches from his Shepard could do nothing but stare into the blue irises as they took on a hint of red along their edges.

"You see Shepard, there are those among us who hold the vision, a pathway they see themselves fulfilling in the greater game of things. These individuals, while rare, are just what I look for within my empire. I made this place, everything around you, with my vision, and now."

He looked to Ashley, trembling slightly behind him.

"You will be the gateway which allows those with that vision to succeed. Trooper, your sidearm please."

The Clone snapped his holster open and handed the pistol to the emperor.

"Lieutenant Williams, as a former member of the systems alliance a test of loyalty must be given to ensure your duty to the empire is true. This test has been replicated on a dozen former alliance worlds without fail. Your test will be special though, your first order as an imperial officer in this grand army."

The emperor thrust the pistol into her hands, her eyes snapping to it before rising to meet his own.

"Is to execute the traitor known as commander John Shepard, your test of loyalty Lieutenant. My will is your bidding, do not fail me like so many others have."

He stepped out of the way, allowing the former alliance marine to look upon her defeated commander. The trembling stopped, her eyes locked with his, and every member they ever had together replayed through each of their minds in sync. Eden Prime, the rachni den, the loss of Kaiden, the final battle at the citadel. In Shepard's mind a single question repeated again and again, over and over, asking the only thought he could, why?

Ashley began to cry, tears streaming down her face as she walked before her former commanding officer and saw what had become of him.

"Ash, please, don't do this."

"Lieutenant Williams, the clock is ticking."

She didn't respond to either man, raising the pistol she placed the muzzle between Shepards eyes and pulled the trigger. The body hit the floor with a thunk, the pistol following soon after as the former alliance marine went to her knees and cried out. Behind her the emperor smiled, his eyes now the color of blood he chuckled at the gravity of it all.

"Yes, good Lieutenant, very good, you will do well here. Welcome to the empire."


	16. All will serve

**Unknown time, unknown location following Imperial capture.**

Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams awoke to the cold metal floor of some nondescript location, and the force of her body dealing with the aftereffect of being dropped onto the floor. With waves of pain, her body wracked as the after-effects of a stun bolt finished. Releasing the tension from her coiled muscles she was able to finally peer up from the metal floor and into the face of her captors. The lights blinded her, her eyes used to the darkness of their lids, attempted to see through the pain until a vaguely humanoid shape stepped down in front of her. Her vision cleared and the memories of the last few days of horror and war flooded her senses.

Sounds, so many sounds, screams of anguish, fear, pain, all of it hit her like a freight train as she took in the area she now resided and the being before her. The first normal human she had ever seen wearing an imperial uniform stared down at her with predatory eyes, seemingly bereft of emotion all she could already tell this was a creature of pure logical pain, and he was staring right at her.

"Hello there Gunnery Chief Williams."

A hand came from behind his back holding a cattle prod.

"And welcome to hell."

She should have seen it coming, the prod stabbing her in the shoulder while he yelled at her to get up, continually shocking her the enite time. Muscles spasming she got to her feet and stood perfectly still while her captor looked her up and down before moving onto the next meal. Looking left and right she noted she was in a metal grey room, maybe twenty by twenty yards which held close to maybe fifty people. All human of course, she didn't expect any of her alien comrades to have survived their fight with the empire. They were all alliance, every single one of the people standing in a square-shaped formation wore the blues of the alliance marines. Except one, she didn't dare look too far back but her eyes picked up on a bloodied white uniform before a baton smacked into her side and the voice of a clone screamed into her ear.

"Eyes front prisoner!"

Prisoner, that's what she was now, a prisoner to the empire responsible for killing her friends. Well, she had not served in the alliance marines for nothing, if these bastards thought she was going to go out without a fight then- a commotion on the other side of the room broke her inner monologue and pulled her eyes down the line. An alliance marine, his armor ripped off to the bodysuit had attacked the black-uniformed imperial with the shock prod. They were both on the floor, his fist slamming into the imperials throwing blood all over the floor. Thinking about joining his little rebellion died away when two clones grabbed both of his arms and dragged the attacker to the front of the room kicking and screaming.

"You mother fuckers! I'll fucking kill you! I'll kill you all for what you did!"

His fist dripped blood, his mouth was streaming salvia, and his eyes held fury as he fought back against the clone who had now pushed him to his knees and placed cuffs on his hands. The clones held his torso up while he continued to yell and scream, but Ash's attention was not on the marine frothing at the mouth, it was on the imperial slowly getting up off the floor. Blood now soaked his black uniform where his mouth slowly dripped from a dozen open cuts on his lips and cheeks. Now on his feet, his eyes rose, locking with hers and sending a feeling of coldness down her spine, she quickly looked away.

A dozen troopers had entered the holding area in the time since the marine had been dragged to the front. Shock batons and shields at the ready Ash theorized they could have taken all of them if she hadn't spotted two of the clones cradling what looked like shotguns. The normal as she now called him began calmly making his way to the front, slowly but surely making sure not to break ranks he walked in front of each prisoner without breaking stride. He passed her last before making for the front of the room and locking on with the attacker from earlier. Between the bouts of yelling she could make out the Imperial saying something to the marine.

Hand snapping to his waist the imperial pulled a heavy-looking baton weighed down with a ball of metal on one end and slammed the device into the side of the marines skull. A yelp went off in the crowd at seeing this, the imperial flashing toward the sound before turning toward the assembled prisoners now. Putting away the baton he gave a hand movement to the clones behind him who at the signal pushed the drooling body to the floor before extending batons of their own.

"There is always one among every group of former warriors, always one who is so encapsulated with fulfilling their objectives that they would rather die than see their enemy live."

At the last word the clones began beating the body, blood splattered across their white armor as their batons broke skin and crushed bone.

"You are all former soldiers of your so-called Systems Alliance. Soldiers who have lost on the battlefield and fallen into the hands of the empire."

A final crunch and the now dead marines head split open, pink brain matter flushed onto the floor behind the imperial.

"Let this be a lesson, a first lesson to those deemed worthy of Imperial service. To turn your back on the empire is to resign yourself to death. In the coming you will be broken, you will all be broken. I know, I know, many of you think you would never turn your back on the alliance, that you would never pull a weapon on your former compatriots but I will be the first to tell you now. You will be the finest Imperial officers not grown in labs like those bred for this around you, you will be the finest warriors responsible for leading the lessers of society into the greatest acts of battle ever seen. But before you can be these champions of the imperial rank and file, you must be broken, shelled out, and reformed into what the empire needs. Right now you are nothing but traitors, but in time you will be made into tools the likes of which you could never have dreamed. Troopers take them to their cells, we shall begin shortly."

Cuffs were slammed onto everyone's wrist and then bags over their eyes before they were led single file out. Ashley attempted to track their path, but the journey somehow ended up in what sounded like a forest. She could hear birds, the snaps of insects, the rush of the wind through the trees, and the pounding of boots in dirt. The hood was pulled off at the same time as the cuffs, and she was pushed down into a dark abyss.

She landed in a wet mud, her hands sinking into the earth as she pulled herself up. Another body impacted beside her, it was a white suit, the uniform she had seen at the back of the room. Why did hers look so diff- The black-haired woman was pulling herself out of the mud when Ashley spotted the symbol on the upper part of her arm. With white-hot fury she questioned the newest member of her cell.

"What the hell is Cerberus doing here?"

**Estimated one week after capture.**

"Next!"

Garrus stood in the line of endless Turians, Batarians, and Asariall shuffling toward the voices of human officers. Chain link fences topped with glowing red wires kept the endless line of prisoners in line as they marched from the complex itself toward wherever their wardens were taking them. On the other side of these fences, white armored troopers patrolling in pairs, watching and waiting for any of the prisoners to give them a reason to act. None dare, as they had seen in the last week what happened to those still harboring defiance toward the empire. Midnight raids in the camp culminating in a public execution the next day was the usual and it had only been a week.

When he had first arrived he'd asked around to find out the greater picture of the galaxy and what he had found made his heart sink more and more. In their expedition to Adri Prime, the empire had spread across the galactic north and was striking southward, toward the colonies of the system alliance. In doing so they had cut a path across half of Citadel space and allowed hundreds of mercenary and pirate bands to run amok around the Turian and Asari outer colonies. Word was the governments of both nations were too busy dealing with the imperial burning away their core worlds to do anything about it, hell for anyone living there.

What hurt the most was the communication blackout from Palaven itself, the largest fleet in the galaxy outside of the citadel defense fleet, and not a peep from anyone. He thought of his father, mother, and sister, sheltering under the grip of the empire. He thought of Ash, Liara, Tali, Wrex, and of course Shepard. Where were they all now, what had become of them in all of this? He didn't spot any Krogan among the thousands around him, nor did he spot any of the lesser races either. Vorcha, Volus, Quarians, and Elcor, he could see a few Drell but they were few and far between. Quarians were nonexistent, if they were found hiding the imperials were quick to take them away which was odd, did they have an alliance? Were the Quarians supporting the empire?

Nobody knew much other than that their units had been defeated, they;d been captured, and sent to this shithole POW camp in the middle of nowhere.

At his point he wished he could go back to the days of Saren, the days of going over the entire galaxy and looking for that rat bastard giving all Turians a bad name. There were still the reapers to worry about as well, the machines beyond the galactic rim hell-bent on destroying all life in the galaxy. Against the empire thought, he couldn't really tell the two apart at this point. Galactic domination, the end of life as he knew it, not much of a difference in his eyes. Their ships blackened the skies on a hundred worlds, raining fire and doom on those below and he and everyone else here could do nothing about it.

"Look to the sky!"

Looking up he went speechless at the sight before his eyes. A ship the size of a dreadnought parted the clouds themselves, so massive was it that its shadow shrouded the sun from the entire camp as it passed overhead and toward his direction of travel. More troops? No, why would they need more troops on Adri Prime? This was a prison world now, with camps filled to the brim with soldiers and civilians alike. He was nearing the front of the line as the ship passed overhead, its engines throwing up dust and debris as it rattled the chain fence surrounding him. Garrus's eyes tracked the craft as it touched down in a field to his front, from here he could just make out ramps lowering from its hull as a human voice broke his concentration.

"Next!"

Twelve field desks, each holding a normal human in an imperial uniform and two clones right behind. Eleven currently held Turians in the process of doing whatever was asked of them, the last held a human man with a scar on his forehead.

"I said fucking next alien, get the hell up here!"

Garrus didn't need any more motivation, already he could see the clones looking toward him as he marched before the human at the desk smashing keys on a holographic computer.

"Name, rank, specialty?"

"Garrus Vakarian, uh sergeant, marksman."

"Fuck is a cop doing here, you know what, I don't care. Trooper."

The projector at the device's base shot out a small capsule, the operator handed it to the trooper to his right who then approached Garrus. It was just then that Garrus noted the red cross on the clone's helmet and the syringe he was loading the capsule in.

"Uh, what is that?"

"Identification marker, it'll let your superiors know who you are now, hold still and let the medic implant you."

"Superiors?"

The medic pulled him down by the fringe, and stuck the needle between the plates at the back of his head. Garrus chomped down hard, the pain of the metal device lessening as the medic slowly pulled it out and let go of his fringe. He would have fought back if it weren't for the other clone resting his weapons muzzles directly at his midsection. With the medic done the operator pulled a small scanner and shined the light onto garrus, a small picture and the information given appeared on the screen before the operator closed the device.

"Move on through the gate to your left for your next orders, NEXT!"

Garrus rubbed the back of his head as the next Turian took his place and he continued to the next gate. More clones and no line, he marched along the path which slowly curved toward the landed ship until he met with a group of what he guessed to be two hundred Turians, Asari and Salarians of all things waiting before a large guard tower. Four clones were at its base, along with three at the top. The imperial flag flowed behind them, the symbol of the empire along with a small banner leading along the bottom of the flowing fabric.

334TH ADRI PRIME AUXILIARY.

The fuck? Garrus waited for what seemed like hours as more and more people filled the area around the guard tower. Three hours after he had arrived there had to be thousands of people milling about, chatting, or sleeping in the grass at their feet as they awaited their fates. Everyone had a theory on just what they were going to be doing but deep down Garrus already had an idea he didn't bring up. The dread of it began eating away at his stomach as the gates behind them closed and the clone at the top of the tower called their attention. Thousands of former citizens and soldiers of the citadel galaxy all looked to a clone in the standard white armor with red and blue highlights leading down the front of his armor. Officer Garrus thought, definitely

"Attention, attention, aliens of the empire."

A hush went over the chatty crowd, a few expletives whispered from those brave enough to speak them.

"You have all served honorably on the battlefield, as members of your respective militaries you showed bravery in the face of defeat, you showed the will of your people and I commend you for your actions. It is the way of the weak to submit immediately, to bow one's head in the face of a truly dangerous threat. But those days of defiance are over, the days of wearing your nation's shield are over, the days of fighting the empire are over."

No one questioned the imperial word, as they knew it to be true. They had all been defeated one way or another, their units and peoples crushed under the heel of a machine designed to grind them to dust.

"You were all to be executed for your defiance this morning, killed by the troopers that now surround this camp but fate has seen different ideas prevail. You may not know it but from this day forward it will not be your past which holds you back but your actions, for your actions will determine your life. You are all now members of the three hundred and thirty-fourth Adri Prime Imperial Auxilia legion. Your lives now hold meaning in this galaxy, for you will fight and die for the empire."

This caused an uproar so loud Garrus had to shield his ears. The clones at the base of the tower and surrounding the fences immediately rose their weapons to the crowd. Everyone and he meant everyone was screaming till their lungs gave out, every word possible denouncing and demeaning the empire. Quickly leaders became apparent within the crowd, random officers and NCOs pulling troops together as they prepared themselves to fight the empire. They would not go down without a fight for their beliefs, they would not fight for this spirits damned empire. Garrus eyed the closest leader, a Turian male sporting captain's bars as he hustled a group of Turians together as the clone spoke over the crowd.

"You will bow and fight for the empire or you will die in this dirt!"

Garrus did not want to die here, not in some shithole filed on Adri Prime and not fighting for the empire. He would not die here, slinking into the mass of people he made sure to stay as out of the way as possible. He watched as the Turians made ranks, preparing to rush the tower with the captain at the head. He had turned toward his prepared troops, ready to give the order when an explosion went off in his neck and his head turned to mist. All across the crowd, would be commanders and section leaders head exploded in showers of gore which covered their once soldiers. Bodies fell everywhere, those who had screamed out in defiance, those who had called others to fight, all died as the implants within their skulls detonated in resounding fury. As the last body fell silence permeated across the crowds, as one those left turned toward the clone commander looking down upon them in contempt.

"Troopers! Prepare this rabble to board the acclamator, we have a war to fight!"

Two weeks later.

Garrus couldn't believe just two weeks after Adri Prime the three-thirty fourth was being deployed in a warzone deemed fit for the alien legion. Their officers, all clones, had in the two weeks time designated squads, platoons, and companies to the mismatched ground force. Armor had been handed out already bearing the numbers of their legion, weapons wouldn't be issued until they were above the planet. They were going to fight, fight for the empire that was. A mismatch of half a dozen races, crammed together in the hull of an Imperial transport and shuttled off to a war. Looking to the three human numbers on his left shoulder, Garrus sighed in anguish. How the mighty had fallen he thought, too of gone from the high of defeating Saren to now being nothing more than a number to an army that didn't care.

On his right shoulder the two stripes of a corporal stood out among the mess of troops around him. He had been designated a team leader by his platoon leader, one CT-09999A or lieutenant nines as he liked to be called. Thoughts of deception filled his mind as the ship rattled around him with the sounds of an army at rest. Would he fight? Would he follow the orders of an imperial on some out of the way world? Rubbing the back of his head, right between two plates told him the answer. He would be leading two turians, a batarian, and an Asari into combat. His platoon was a mismatch of every species available, with leaders of all races designated by the only clone within it all. Nines was nothing like the clone Garrus had met on the Normandy, more logical, more objective orientated, he didn't spout the xenophobic speeches the other had. His platoon had gotten to know each other in the past few weeks, Garrus keeping his distance from the others the entire time. He didn't want to get attached, he didn't want to become enthralled like some others had. The clacking of armor plates broke his concentration, Lieutenant Niner was walking among his platoon and speaking to squad leaders.

"Third platoon, horseshoe around me!"

Every member of the third platoon snapped to their feet and did as ordered, no one wanted their head to explode. Surrounding their platoon leader Garrus went to the front and surveyed the clone as he pulled a holographic device off his belt and displayed an alien Garrus had never seen before. It was humanoid in shape with two arms and two legs, but its body was rail thin and encased within an armor set Garrus had never seen. At its feet was a name, Uish.

"Alright auxilia, in two hours the fleet will be exiting FTL above the world designated as Fit three. It is a continental world currently held by these creatures, aliens known as Uish. The Empire had designated this region of space for expansion, our legion and many like it will be the first boots in the ground for the invasion. Beside us will be the eight seventy-six stormtrooper legion and Imperial army units. The Imperial command is estimating twenty-five percent casualties due to the numbers of Uish planetary defense forces. It falls on us to prove them wrong, note, these things can die to both laser and ME fire but be aware they will use technology you have never seen. Questions?"

"Sir, why have we never seen these things before?"

"If you didn't already know Sergeant, the auxilia legions have been transported to our home galaxy as they are seen as not able to fight your former leaders. Instead we will be replacing Imperial army units that had been designed for this sector, relieving them in essence."

"Were not home anymore…"

It was a quiet voice which spoke out, emotion evident as the helmet of niner turned to the Asari who was about to burst into tears.

"Your home is now the empire auxilia, and it will be until a time is determined your services are no longer required. It would do you good to realize this, am I understood?"

A meek yes sir was the reply.

"Good, two hours auxilia, two hours until you show the empire why it funneled the resources to let you live. Show them you will fight, show them you are valuable!"

Garrus was lost, still looking at the alien before him. Yes he would fight, he would fight for the troops around him, he would fight for a ticket back home, he would fight to live another day and if it took killing these aliens then he would do so.

Two hours later, Invasion hour.

Forty-nine auxilia and one clone, that was a platoon. A legion of them stood shoulder to shoulder as they boarded a transport for the ground below. Garrus was at the front of his platoon, right behind Niner as they boarded a box-shaped transport that could fit the whole platoon. It was a tall vessel with the troop's doors right below the cockpit, facing toward wherever the vessel landed in a sense forcing the occupants to face the enemy. This was it, his first battle for a unit made by an empire currently burning his homeworld most likely. He couldn't touch it under his helmet, but his hand almost went to the spot between the plates on the back of his head. His HUD turned online and began readying his weapons layout as the craft began to make its way out of the bay, the doors closing before he could see space, basking the platoon in darkness. He'd been issued a turian issue service rifle, the supply manager informing him they were ordered to expand all stocks of ME weaponry before switching to the standard imperial laser. He felt the gravity turn on within the craft as it entered orbit, red lights turning on as their craft began its descent towards the planet surface.

"All NCOS this is Niner, our designated landing zone is a habitation block on the southern side of a forge city. We are to capture the facilities and await counterattack, roger."

"Yes sir."

"A battalion will be with us, one thousand auxiilia from our legion, remember you fight for the empire today. Show them they were right!"

At the last word the craft began shaking, the pilot's voice coming over the comms in the usual clone calmness.

"Taking ground fire, prepare for a hot landing."

The troops within shook as the craft went left and right, smashing into each other in piles of armor and meat. Garrus grabbed onto the overhead bars, careful to keep his balance as the craft rocked again.

"Two minutes."

"One minute."

"Thirty seconds."

The craft had one last shutter before it slammed into the ground, the door slamming open as Garrus saw what hell looked like.

"Go, Go, Go, for the empire!"

The screams of Niner behind him did little to motivate him forward as he saw the sea of fire before him. The platoon rushed out into the open area in front of them as yellow beams of light shot out into their ranks and took the first lives of this campaign. His first steps onto this planet and already his boots were soaked in blood, Garrus rushed out and took cover with his team behind a destroyed vehicle of some kind as the transport lifted off behind him. He couldn't believe his eyes as he looked to the city before him. Skyscrapers literally in the clouds belched fire covering the air in smog. Blue, red, and green tracers lit up this bright sunny day as all manner of explosion went off around him. A green shaped object impacted just in front of him less than twenty yards away, vaporizing an entire squad as he felt something squishy below his boots. Looking down his face went to horror as he saw what was left of an Asari cover his boots in purple blood.

This was it he thought, this was the war the empire fought and somehow won. There had to be hundreds of troopers around him, all returning fire into the buildings which bathed their landing zone in yellow beams of light. He was a cop, a good marksman, maybe even a soldier from time to time but this, this was something else entirely. A green beam of pure energy lanced out of the clouds and impacted one of the ungodly tall skyscrapers, ripping it in half and throwing the top of the structure to the ground which then sent up a wave of ash and dust. Through all the fire and screams Garrus made out the voice of Niner screaming into his own radio.

"This is shadow six requesting orbital, say again orbital fire!"

"Roger shadow six, orbital fire incoming on that position. Keep your heads down over."

"Get the fuck down, orbital fire incoming!"

Every soldier around him ducked in unison into every piece of cover they could. Destroyed vehicles, burning rubble, one batarian even hid behind a stack of auxilia bodies which had piled up due to enemy fire. Three hundred meters to his front, garrus watched as the building which had killed so many suddenly turned into a miniature sun and ceased to exist. The yellow beams which had plagued them from the moment they stepped off the transport ceased to exist, and with it the enemy holding the battalion back. Niner was the first to stand up, his white armor already blackened with soot, he pulled the closest auxilia to his feet and bellowed a single order.

"Forward, for the empire!"

Garrus stood and saw bodies everywhere he looked, it was going to be a long day.


	17. To break a person

**Unknown alien planet, 334th Adri Prime Auxilia**

Three hours, three long hours, that's how long it had been since he had taken the first step off the transport and firmly placed himself on this spirits forsaken world. Garrus leaned on his M-15 for support as he tried to stay awake as he came down from the most stressful adrenaline burst he had ever had in his entire life. The city around him shaking as artillery impacted anywhere and everywhere, the thumps sounding the death neal of the aliens who defended this once mighty city. Three hours and the skyscrapers he had stared at in awe lay ruined on their side, cut in half by airstrikes or orbital fire.

He was a sergeant now, battlefield promotion by niner when his squad leader had caught one of those yellow rays to the chest. Garrus hadn't been more than a meter away when the ambush had started, having witnessed the shooter fire he watched as the yellow bolt impacted his Turian squad leader. The results were, to say the least terrifying, the round bypassed his shields, his armor, and ate at the flesh underneath, killing him slowly and agonizingly. Garrus could still hear the screams as he fired back, pumping round after round into the figure as it went down in a spray of purple gore while the Turian at his feet screamed for his mama.

Three hours and more than half of the platoon lay dead, most having died in just the landing itself. Occasionally they would watch the dogfights overhead as imperial craft fought slick alien things that looked like they were made up of glass. Every shot the alien craft fired would start in the body, glowing as it warmed up a sickly yellow before firing and killing another imperial craft. Word was the battalion had suffered forty percent casualties already, and the commander was deploying the rest of the legion to push the aliens back. Another nine battalions, more bodies to the grinder. His original team was dead, either by snipers or hidden traps, each of the people he hadn't cared to speak to had died in agonizing pain one way or another.

By the second hour, Niner had begun taking it upon himself to shoot those who were beyond saving. His laser pistols glowed red by the third, his demeanor changing as his platoon was killed out from under him. He was walking along the survivors now as they held up in some abandoned hab block licking their wounds and drinking what water they had. He'd already called for reinforcements and supplies, command informed him both were on their way and would be there within the hour. Another hour, Garrus thought, another hour and they would all be dead.

Cracking the tension out of his backplates, the Turian sergeant stood up and made his way to the platoon commander who was busy speaking to an Asari.

"Auxilia, are you ok? No problems whatsoever?"

"No sir, could use some thermal clips but that's about it."

"Good, good, I'll send for a runner. Sergeant is there anything you need?"

"Yes sir, any word on the next attack?"

The trooper's helmet dipped before he pulled the armored bucket off and sat down in a pile of rubble.

"I understand you're an alien, and value your life more than your superiors would think. So this is going to sound bad. In thirty minutes we are to advance along with the fourth platoon of charlie company directly north, it is rumored the locals have an ammunition dump located in an abandoned food processing station. We are to take the objective and await a counter-assault, intel reports the enemies QRF numbers are somewhere around five hundred troops. Far outnumbering our platoon but we fulfill the empire needs, nothing more."

"Fuck, alright. Any armor?"

"No, no artillery either, pure infantry assault. They believe our Asari will be the deal-breaker in pushing the line."

"Sir, they have to realize we'll get slaughtered, all of us dead for an ammunition dump?"

"Listen auxilia, we don't play the game from up there, we don't see the pieces on the table as a whole. All we see in the pieces in front of us, the men and women to your left and right nothing more. We are the empire's fist, and we will fulfill that duty. Go prepare the troops, I'll see if i can call anything."

"Yes sir."

They were all going to die, he could already tell. A little under eighty auxilia and their clone commander versus the defenders of this world. He had quickly learned not to take them on one on one, it was recommended a team should collectively fire on the bastards and make sure they stayed dead. Too many times an auxilia would shoot one down only to die when he got too close, the alien throwing a grenade or firing what was left of their rifle. They couldn't even pick up the yellow beam weapons, as they were sabotaged to self destruct when not interfacing with the genetic code of their makers. One batarian from the third squad had learned this the hard way after hacking one of the rail-thin aliens to death with a cleaver and then grabbing at its rifle. Two seconds later his head and most of his upper body turned to pink mist.

Going up and down the line, Garrus handed out any spare thermal clips and grenades he had to auxilia who needed it. Most stared back with dead eyes, seemingly looking far away while their eyes rested on his face.

"All leads, prepare to receive friendlies from the rear over."

A clone walked in first, his armor the same as Niner he walked right up to him as he scanned over what was left of Garrus's platoon.

"Alien, where is your leader?"

"Over here Kef, no need to berate my men."

"Brother, good to see you're still alive. Are you ready for real warriors to show your scrap how it's done?"

"Am I being led to believe your auxilia are somehow superior to my battle-hardened warriors? Because I think not brother."

The two clones clasp arms before taking off their helmets.

"Please brother, these aliens don't know our wars. I have watched them since we stepped foot upon this dirtball of a world. They die by the thousands I hear, too inept to fight a real war. We need clones to fight a real war, not a bunch of alien turncoats."

"If you are so keen to throw them away brother, why did you volunteer for this posting?"

"Why, I wish to see them fail. I wished to see them die by the thousands while we kept our brother safe from the more inhospitable engagements. And it never hurts to learn how the other side fights."

"Of course brother, Now shall we begin our attack?"

"Yes, I believe it is that time."

Behind the clone lieutenant came the fresh faces of the third platoon, it was obvious to Garrus right off the bat none of these newbies had seen the fight just yet. He could still see the defiance plastered on some of their faces for the clones as they passed the two officers. He swore he saw an Asari raise her rifle before deciding not too and moving on. The third platoon prepared themselves by what was left of his, some chit-chatted, asking for tips and tricks to survive this hellhole. Others just stared into the gaunt faces slowly preparing their weapons and wondered if they would look the same in an hour or two.

"Auxilia of the three thirty forth, we move for battle! Get into columns and follow me!"

Garrus saw Niner shake his head at the other clone as he went to the front of the column and led his troops out the door. He had to remind himself that while they looked so human, like Shepard, beneath them were killers willing to sacrifice his entire species for their empire.

"Follow his lead troopers, but stay a little back, keep your spacing and all that."

Thirty minutes later.

It was the same everywhere they went, all rubble, all death and destruction, the way the empire conducted diplomacy he thought. They were within a block and had eyes on the structure itself. It was the base of a former skyscraper, its height cut off at the twentieth floor and its top crushing the building next to it. Garrus eyed two guards so far, nothing more as he scanned every floor possible. Intel put the ammunition dump on the ground floor thank the spirits, where he spotted what looked like a floating round vehicle unloading cargo with another two aliens working the crates back and forth. Eighty auxilia, two clones, against four aliens. A whistle came from down the line and the attack began. The disparity became evident as the two platoons conducted an attack.

One rushed ahead, seemingly oblivious as shooters opened up on the second floor and began cutting down their numbers. Speed and numbers were their strategy as they crossed the twenty meters to the building, losing auxilia every step of the way. Garrus and his platoon held back, allowing the cannon fodder to make the shooters come out of hiding as they began picking off the snipers and machine gun teams, killing off the third platoon. Garrus himself caught one of the thin aliens in his sight, its face obscured by a glass-covered mask. His shot connected just in time for the alien to lean over and out the window it had been standing in, the body slamming into the street with a resounding thud. After this task had been completed Garrus got up with his platoon and moved across the street to the building now full of yelling, gunfire, and screams of the dead and dying. Niner and Garrus were the first through the door and into the backs of the third platoon.

Bodies were everywhere, in different states of death as the aliens gunfire went to work on their bodies from the inside out. Niner handed out mercy shots on the way in, not wanting to hear their screams any longer. This first floor was a massive open space housing a singular elevator capable of housing at least one hundred people. Surrounding this elevator were hundreds of crates and other boxes that looked to hold munitions, along with the troops sent here to guard the equipment. Yellow beams arched past Garrus as he slammed into a stack of the crates and prepared a grenade, with a yoink he threw the object to the exact spot the fire had come from and earned a shower of purple gore.

Third platoon had already taken a beating crossing the street, the fight inside in comparison was a massacre. The clone Kef was busy pounding an aliens faceplate in, oblivious to the fact the auxilla around him were dying by the dozen.

"Kef, brother pull back!"

Kef looked away from the body he was currently straddling and finally noted the dead auxilla all around him.

"Niner, my platoon has become combat ineffective. I formally request your platoon take the rest of the floor!"

"Of course, three thirty-fourth, to victory, for the empire!"

With this cry Niner rushed forward, Garrus for some reason followed along with a full two squad of Auxilla. With speed and violence they would win this fight now, with his HUD Garrus marked targets for the troops behind him as he and Niner hit the center of the room and gunned down anything that moved. Laser, ME, and grenades began turning the tide as more and more of the Uish went down under the withering fire of the imperial warriors. An Asari packing a grenade launcher finished off the last of the defenders with a six-round burst of the explosive projectiles detonating within their midst. Garrus was still scanning the floor alongside Niner and their platoon, watching for any movement, anything which could hold a weapon, and fight back.

"Clear! Auxilla prepares defenses! Garrus with me!"

Kef rolled in behind them all with less than half his platoon still walking, Garrus could still see the smugness in his posture as he strode up to Niner.

"Lieutenant Niner, a true battlefield commander!"

"Yes, my troops will begin scrounging the dead for ammo and have yours do the same. They will be back and soon, we must not be ill-prepared for what is coming."

"Of course, third you heard the officer, get too it!"

Something caught Garrus's attention, a tugging of metal on the floor, the grinding of armor on stone. Niner must have heard it too as Kef went off to get ammo, both men began making their way toward a pairing of crates eliciting the sounds. Garrus slowly pied the crate until the greyish armor of an Uish warrior came into view. Purple blood stained the floor from where the humanoid had dragged itself until it was sitting against the crate. Beside it lay the body of a dead auxilla, a batarian killed with a knife to the neck. The Uish was shaking as it spotted the two soldiers, its hands slapping the crate it had slid upon as it looked left and right for an escape.

"Garrus, go for the arms, I'll get the legs."

"Understood."

Throwing his weapon behind his back he brought both hands up while Niner did the same. This had to be quick, lethality was speed here. With max speed Garrus slammed into the Uish's upper frame and pulled its arms behind its back while niner went for the legs and applied cuffs. THis thing was weak in his arms, maybe due to blood loss but who knew. With another snap Niner applied a second set of cuffs to the arms, letting Garrus let go.

"What is the imperial policy on prisoners?"

"Death usually, but if we can gum it for information we may be able to learn something. See if you can remove the helmet."

Garrus pried around the edge of the now squirming figure's helmet, looking for the release switch while getting a sense of deja vu. Weeks ago he had done the same to an imperial clone trooper, now he followed the orders and fought beside one against an alien race he hadn't known existed. It didn't matter now, with a press of a switch the alien's glass-like face plate disconnected from the suit itself and Garrus got the first look at the enemy he had fought all day. While its body was humanoid its face stood in stark contrast from what he had expected. A four jawed mouth, four eyes, two noses, it was the ugliest thing he had ever seen in his entire life and he had seen a Vorcha.

"Nice job, deploying translation software. Speak alien."

The creature stared back in what Garrus presumed to be pure hate, its four eyes locked with his while its jaw opened and closed in quick succession.

"Garrus, stomp one of its legs."

What? Garrus looked to Niner who was busy pushing keys on his version of an omni tool. There was no joking in his voice, no question within, just an order he had been given to follow. This he remembered, was what an imperial was, a heartless, cruel machine, meant for one purpose and one purpose only. The back of his head started itching again, right between the two plates that connected near the bottom of his skull, he had to do this if he wanted to live. He wished he could express some type of emotion to the alien at his feet, but the helmet kept all of that bottled up, unable to say anything.

His left foot slammed into the thin leg of the alien who cried out in pain as the sound of snapping bone hit Garrus's ears. Niner got eye level with the creature now murmuring in pain, bound and unable to do anything about it.

"Alien, I know this device translates my language to yours, now speak. What is the local strength of the PDF."

Its voice was wet, with audible secretions between each word the alien spoke. It was also hurt, the pain evident as it spoke its words of defiance to the invaders of its world.

"Invader, the Uish will come here, and end-all of you. Uish will not fall, Uish will rise and throw your fleets back into the void."

"What is the disposition of local forces alien, I will not ask again."

"Local Uish, local Uish numbers more than you. Local Uish will defeat you."

"That's what I thought, thank you for your cooperation."

A muzzle was in its face and a red laser crossed Garrus's vision. The creature's head now caved open and burned slumped over as it died.

"Garrus, have the troops prepare defenses. It's going to be a long night."

Garrus was still staring at the corpse as Niner walked off, this is what he served now, this is what he was now.

**Ashley.**

Her name was Miranda, an agent of the dreaded human supremacist organization known as Cerberus. She was genetically concocted in a lab, not born of a real womb or real parents, she was made to be perfect. Her story of capture was nothing Ashley had expected from the racist organization she worked for.

"I was on a mission for the illusive man, if you don't know he's the repugnant prick who leads our organizations. Or at least he did until they showed up and told us how it was going to be done from now, I don't know the specifics but there was a falling out and the imperials raided our HQ."

"Can't believe it, I would have thought you two would have been lovers with your policies towards anyone nonhuman."

"And I would have thought the granddaughter of General Williams would not have sided with the alien so easily but here we both are."

Both sat on opposite sides of the muddy hole they occupied, their home, the prison cell. They'd been here for a day without seeing a single imperial look down upon their humble abode. At first there had been violence, Ash going for the kill against the wanted terrorist but after they'd both tired out they had gotten to talking. So here they were now, sitting across from each other in a damp, muddy hole with nothing to do but pass the time and stare at the blue skies above.

"So you were the one ey?"

"The one?"

Miranda chuckled.

"The one to work with the hero of the citadel, to be by his side from Eden Prime to the death of Saren? The one every woman in the galaxy would have killed to be? Please, don't act like you didn't try anything."

Oh she'd tried, she had tried the night before they had gone after Saren and chased him to the citadel. She could recall every moment, every word she had said as she entered the room and found him sitting there on his omni tool going over something or another. Then he said no, that he was sorry and not interested, and her blood boiled.

"Yeah tried and failed, change the subject terrorist."

"Hit a nerve I see, alright. So what do you think Mr. shocks everyone into obedience meant by turning us into the best officers in the Imperial Army?"

"Hell if I know."

They heard footsteps above them, booted feet squashing into mud and a white helmet peered overhead toward the two women. Both looked up as the clone dropped two small packages in between the pair, obviously food and waited, staring down at the two. It was a contest for a minute, neither woman daring to move as the clone stared down at them before giving up and moving off.

"What was that about?"

"Don't know."

Two hours later.

Poison, the fuckers had poisoned both of them. The food, the fucking food had been poisoned. Ash and Miranda dry threw up anything they had until there was nothing left, sweat poured down their faces as the alien substance worked its way into their systems and destroyed their insides as they lay in the cool mud doing anything possible to ward off the pain. Then it started raining, a small splatter at first they welcomed the water hitting their bodies with its cold embrace. Then it picked up, the rain becoming larger and faster until it was a torrential downpour as great streams of water began flooding their hole. The mud turned into a puddle of dirt and water, forcing the two off the ground as it rose above a foot in depth and continued to rise higher and higher.

For four days and four nights, the duo relied on the water to drink continuously as they withered through the storms above. No more food came, no more imperials, only the storm and each other kept them company as the poison continued to batter away at their insides. Ash began hallucinating on the fifth day, vivid monsters leaped out of the shadows at her, forcing her body to move through the thick mud as she defended herself from things that weren't there. There were rachni whose, scuttling claws ripping her flesh apart as their acid-laced spit dissolved her skin before her eyes. There were Geth platforms, machines with no emotion; they ripped her limb from limb and placed her still bleeding torso onto one of the dragon's teeth. She could feel the stake drive through her body wracked by shock, soon after feeling the nanites of reaper correction entering to take her sanity.

The last vision broke her mind more than any other, though they had brought pain, misery, and the loss of her life before her eyes several times, none stood anywhere near the last. She was sitting at the center of the hole, the water up to her knees as she cradled them into her chest. She thought the worst was behind her, the visions, the pain, was leaving her body with the last of the poison. Looking up from the pit patting water surrounding she froze as she realized it was not over, not even close. Eyes, red glowing eyes stared out at her from the darkness of the hole surrounding her. A single pair of them, then another, and another, until she was surrounded by the red glowing eyes looking down on her.

"Ash…"

"Ashley…."

"Ashley Williams…"

They spoke in voices from her past, friends, lovers, leaders, all with a tone of accusation in their voice as the voices grew louder and louder, reaching a crescendo as they screamed in union a single pair of words.

"ASHLEY WILLIAMS!"

"ASHLEY WILLIAMS!"

"ASHLEY WILLIAMS!"

"ASHLEY WILLIAMS!"

Each word hit her with a wave of force, throwing her off her balance and pushing her face-first into the war with each repetition. Fighting back with all she could she could barely keep herself above the water as the voices got closer and closer.

"ASHLEY WILLIAMS!"

It was right next to her ear, she could feel the breath from the mouth which spoke, she could see at the edge of her vision a ruined set of alliance armor. Arching her head up to look at the speaker her eyes went wide with fright as she took in the face squatting right next to her.

"No, I'm sorry, please don't, please, I'm sorry!"

The head was mostly skeletal save for a few scraps of skin still hanging onto the skull. The eyes were the color of a sun, dripping blood, the red substance ran down the bony face and onto the blue armor set waist-deep in the water. It was scorched, torn in places and missing armor pieces, but through it all she could spy the name tape hanging loosely on the front of the chest plate.

STAFF LIEUTENANT KAIDEN ALENKO

Skeletal hands grabbed her shoulders drawing blood, the skull face peering closer as it began pushing her backward toward the water.

"No, Kaiden, what are you doing!"

"You let me die Ash, you let me burn in an atomic fire nobody would ever remember. I called out in those last moments, I screamed out knowing I was going to die for the commander's pet, the commander's whore."

"No Kaiden, please I never did anything with Shepard. It couldn't be both of us, It just couldn't!"

Her head was halfway submerged now, her still trying to fight back the monster on top of her proved fruitless as her face slowly sunk beneath the muddied water.

"You're going to burn, just like I did Ash."

Through the drowning of her body and the muffled screams underwater, Ash looked through the brown haze to find those red eyes still staring at her as she died.

But she didn't, as the last wisp of life left her body and her eyes closed accepting the final darkness they opened once more. She hadn't moved once, her head still lay between her legs as she pulled them into her chest.

"Ash…."

"No, please….."


	18. Resignation

**334th Imperial Auxilia, Unknown Uish world.**

They came like a tidal wave, they came as an unending horde of thin bodies and energy weapons, they came to end what they saw as an alien invasion of their world. On the street still cradling the auxilia dead from the earlier assault, the Uish fighters rushed alongside each other in waves of troops wishing to drown the imperials in their own blood. Yellow fire smashed into every piece of fortification the defenders had, suppressing them until the Uish were within grenade range. Garrrus was busy firing through a small slit he had made between two crates, firing a burst that caught a group of Uish together just as one of them threw an orange square-shaped device into his line.

.His eyes tracked the orange device as it landed among four auxilia crouched behind a barricade of ammunition crates, was it a grenade? An explosive device? No, he should have known it would be nothing like he had faced back in the citadel side of the two galaxies. With a flash of yellow light the device quickly exploded outward in a fireball of energy which overwhelmed the fire team. Garrus had to shield his eyes from such power, his arm covering his helmet's visor before the light died down and he saw just what the weapon was. They were on the ground, all four members of the fire team, and they were screaming. Garrus watched as a Turian tore off his helmet and allowed all to see the effects his body was going through.

His flesh was melting through the plates of his body, the once-living tissue now turned to an orange paste as it flowed freely from the still-living turian. Garrus's mandibles went wide in shock, unable to comprehend what he was witnessing until he felt an armored hand grab his shoulder and forcibly turn him away.

"Garrus!"

Niner, his once white armor with red and blue highlights now covered in the dark grime from battle, screamed through his helmet's microphone.

"Get all squads to fall back to the center, help is on the way!"

"Yes sir!"

Niner went back to suppressing the advancing Uish with his dual pistols while Garrus went down the line of auxilia.

"Fall back to the center! All squads fall back to the center!"

Some heeded his orders, falling back in disciplined teams as they fired upon the advancing Uish before retreating. Others were lost in their bloodlust, lost to seeing so many of their fellow auxilia die in droves to the aliens killing yellow beams. Batarian, Asari, Turian, it didn't matter what race or creed they all seethed with anger as they were told to fall back to the center. It was at the end of the defensive line that Garrus found the last members still firing upon the enemy, three Turians surrounding a clone in white armor. Garrus guessed Niner had told Kef though their internal comms but for some reason the clone had still not fallen back, why he did not know. But in his defiance of Niners orders he was risking the Turians around him still firing upon the enemy.

"Sir! We need to fall back!"

Kef fired two more shots from his pistols, all connecting with advancing Uish and sending them tumbling before giving attention to the Turian NCO.

"I already told that daft Niner that we can hold the line, we should not be falling back! You will stand here and die alien! You will not fall back, do i make myself clear!"

"Sir, Niners order…!"

"I am an Imperial officer, you are an alien auxilia, you will follow my order to the letter do I-"

Kef didn't finish his sentence as a yellow bolt impacted the side of his helmet and sent the body to the ground. The three Turians who had stood beside their platoon commander all looked inward at the imperial body on the ground before turning towards Garrus.

"Orders are to fall back to the center, help in on the way so theirs no reason to die for something stupid."

The three Turians looked to each other before one went for the body and hoisted the clone over his shoulder. Garrus perked a plate under his helmet but said nothing as they made their way to the center the Uish had defended only minutes ago. Their bodies were still their, piled up like sandbags for the defenders to use in deflecting their living compatriots weapons. Behind them stood the grim faces of the three thirty-fourth imperial auxilia, the numbers proudly sticking out on the pauldrons of their armor while they pointed every weapon possible beyond their defensive square. Garrus followed the Turians still carrying Kef's body as they entered this square and found Niner. The clone was throwing out orders left and right, correcting auxilia here and there as he prepared his troops for the battle to continue. His helmet finally turned toward the group, the black eyepieces ending on the clone body being taken off a Turian shoulder as it was lowered to the floor.

"Kef!"

He rushed to his fallen brother, slamming his fist onto the clones chest plate as if to check if he was still alive. Pulling up his omni tool Garrus witnessed the device scan the body, looking for any life signs and returning with nothing. He saw the clone's helmet dip, a slight shudder to the shoulder before his hand went under Kef's helmet and ripped out a small capsule-like device.

"You fought your war brother, you have done your duty to the empire, now you may rest among the halls of Imperial heroes. For the empire, in duty and death, may you forever serve in all those your actions have touched."

The capsule went to a pocket on his waist as the clone rose.

"Alright, all auxilia here me!"

Niner went to the center of the defensive square and climbed a pair of larger grey colored crates before looking to the assembled troops before him. Looking across the crowd of different races, uniforms, and equipment, he could see how an outsider would be troubled in guessing exactly who they were. Eclipse yellow mixed with blue sun blue, Turian issue brown to Asari issued purple, all wore differing articles of former allegiance but what united them all stood on their shoulders. The number three three four, in bold white human letters, stood proudly on them all. Garrus internally still held his defiance from before, deep down his hatred for the empire would never end for what they had done to his galaxy, but these people, the warriors who had fought and bled beside him, he could never hate.

"In the past day you have all shown me you are more than capable of being warriors, ones who have dutifully served the empire as we fought our enemies across this hellscape of a planet. You have shown bravery, courage, and duty far beyond what I had expected of all of you. So, now we stand at the end, the last act of our war in which we shall either prevail or die. The enemy now stands outside these walls, ready to kill us all. They stand ready and prepared to end the lives of every single person in here. So I ask you now, after fighting our way of war, after feeling what it is like to conduct war as we do, will you fail?"

It was an open question, to every auxilia standing beside their post who were now looking to the auxilia beside them.

"Will you fail the soldier to your left and right, will you fail the people you have fought so much for? Will you fail in your duty to the legion, I ask you, will you fail!"

Nobody responded, all continuing to stare back into the black lenses looking down on them as he stood up there alone. Then somebody spoke, screaming at the tops of their lungs an answer to the clone looking down on them all.

"No sir!"

Funnily enough it sounded like his own voice, odd, he hadn't…

Wait.

Did he?

"No sir!"

It was his voice answering the Lieutenant, it was his arm which rose in the air in pride.

"Are you going to lay down and die! Are you going to be what the empire expects of you, or are you going to be more!"

The distinct tone of dual harmonics answered from every turian throat, followed quickly by the batarian throaty screams distinct to their kind.

"We are the soldiers of the Imperial three hundred and thirty-fourth legion! We are the pride of the Empire, its thundering hammer, its shield with which we hold back the enemy, we are soldiers of the empire!"

Asari voices now joined the screaming fray of voices, their distinctly feminine tones augmenting the already male-dominated circle of warriors.

"We will not fall, we will not bow, we will win this day and any other in which the enemy dare challenge us. Soldiers, man your post and hold the fucking line! For the Empire!"

Garrus would, later on, swear the foundations of the building itself shook in the roar which answered as every voice thundered out a response.

"FOR THE EMPIRE!"

Garrus knew they wouldn't have to wait long. He could hear them, the Uish, scrounging over the dead from the outer cordon as they moved forward into the building. His sights aligned, his body cool, his grip just right, he was ready for whatever they threw at them.

It started with a single shot, a single beam of energy arising out of the darkness, and striking the metal crates they all stood behind, and with it a guttural scream of alien origin called for war. In seconds, every available space possible was filled with the bodies of Uish warriors. The auxilia poured fire into the mesh of alien warriors as they advanced endlessly and without respite. Where one would fall, two would take its place, where a dozen fell, a platoon took their place. Garrus expended an entire thermal clip in those first few seconds, his palm already prepared; he slammed another in place as another squad of warriors entered his sights. Round after round, clip after clip, he lost track as he ended the lives of a dozen warriors in that first minute.

Their bodies began piling up as another wave came, these now having to climb over their dead kin as they charged the servants of death the auxilia had become. Each of them killers, each of them now warriors, none shared a second glance at their enemy, only the switching of sights to a new target. Garrus weapon fire so much that thermal clips began malfunctioning, the heat build-up becoming so bad that his weapon would accept a thermal clip only to immediately shoot the red hot projectile out the side. He threw grenades at those who got to close, at groups of Uish fumbling over the corpses to get to him. They returned fire of course, resulting in several auxilia falling to the ground in their death spasms but enough auxilia filled the line that it didn't matter.

Garrus's mandibles were splayed wide in a scream of anger as once again his M-15 malfunctioned, throwing a clip out he hadn't even used. Throwing the weapon aside he scanned his surroundings to find an Asari spasming on the floor, her body wracked by the power of the alien weapon as she slowly died in pain. In her hand, she still held an M8 Avenger in a death grip. Garrus knew how to use the human-made weapon from his days with… Shepard. Oh if the human commander could see him now, rubbing shoulders with a clone lieutenant, he would have given him so much shit. He put the thought away for later as right now he needed to fight, and to do so, he needed a weapon. Reaching down his eyes met the Asaris just as he touched the weapon's receiver. In her dying state he could see the fear, the pain, the anger, her eyes spoke it all as they met his own and in their pain she noted his hand on her weapon. In her final act of life her hand released its death grip before she looked to the ceiling and left this world.

Garrus went back to the line with new fire lining his belly, and with a great voice of anger screamed every obscenity possible as he gunned down every Uish which entered his sights. They would pay these aliens, they would pay for every auxilia Garrus had watched die in unending pain thanks to their weapons. They would pay for every person he had come to know in these last few hours, who had suddenly been taken from this world due to the acts of their kind. He would see them burn, he would see them all burn, for the soldiers around him, and the legion.

With a sudden rush of numbers the Uish gained a foothold in the line, at a corner of the box they had constructed two dozen Uish warriors entered the defensive line and began wreaking havoc on the auxilia.

Hand to hand the auxilia closest fought the invader as their brothers and sisters in arms continued their merciless fire on the enemy. Grenades flew from both sides with differing effects of explosive and energy nature, groups of soldiers disappearing as the effects transpired on the pieces of flesh caught in their midst. Garrus's palm went to his belt, fiddling around every pouch possible as another wave came and found nothing. Looking down he confirmed his suspicions, earning a sense of dread to begin filling his stomach. He was empty, every thermal clip he had held now lay expended at his feet.

"Ammo! Anyone got a clip!"

Looking left and right, each soldier relayed the same answer, empty or on their last clip. No grenades, no clips, the gunfire from the defenders slowly but surely subsided as guns went silent. Only the red lasers of Niner's pistols continued their unending barrage, the twin weapons spitting energy bolts into groups of Uish who dared advance upon his platoon. It wasn't long until they were the only guns left, the Uish taking notice had pulled back momentarily. This was it, this was fucking it. This was the end, he was going to die here, on some alien world that wasn't even located within his galaxy. He was going to die here, he thought. Looking left and right he caught the eye of every soldier, he even looked to Niner busily firing into the retreating Uish. He was going to die here, surrounded by the people he had fought and bled with, he was going to die here side by side with a person he had once considered an enemy, and he was ok with it.

Why, he didn't know. But looking in the eyes of these people told him all the answers he needed, everyone was sharing the same thoughts and feelings in these last moments. They accepted their deaths, they accepted the people around them.

Garrus dug deep within his own mind in these last moments, accepting what he was in this group of brothers and sisters. He was a cop, a spectres associate, a friend of the systems alliance, and right now, right now he was a soldier of the three hundred and thirty-fourth Adri Prime auxilia legion and he would die with pride on his lips.

This was it, the Uish were coming, he could hear their skittering feet on the tiled floor. With the flip of a switch he lighted up his Omni blade, drawing the eyes of every soldier around him who followed suit, all activating their omniblades as the enemy drew near. Garrus ducked behind the barricade, and waited. There was no reason to give the Uish a target, they would come to him, they would die by his blade one way or another. He heard praying form somewhere down the line, call to the goddess, calls to the spirits, call to every deity possible. They were close now, he felt their weight impact the barrier, he saw the barrels of a dozen weapons push out over the top of the barrier.

Garrus was a Turian, a person who knew service and duty all too well, from birth he had been trained in the ways of war. For his ancestors, for his family, for the legion, he would not fail here. With a steel laden grip he pulled down on a weapon's barrel and slashed at the user as he stood up, around him every auxilia still able did the same as they brought their blades upon the throats and chest of the Uishwarriors. Garrus slashed and stabbed until there was nothing left, in their arrogance the Uish had grouped to the point they count bare their rifles for the fear of killing their comrades, it would be their downfall. With all his strength he physically there the destroyed body away, before pulling another Uish over the barricade he slammed the blade down until the face was no longer recognizable. He executed his toll as one after the other Uish warriors tried and failed to beat him in melee combat. Auxilia fell but he didn't notice, as all his attention was on the Uish warriors fumbling for their weapons as he slashed and cut his way through their ranks. Leaping over the barricade he charged the Uish, following him were the remnants of his platoon, teeth bared, and screams of death on their throats they charged. At seeing this the Uish were falling over themselves or tripping on the bodies of their dead as they attempted to engage the auxilia who held little care for their own well being.

Garrus was a machine now, in this environment everything was automated as his body slashed screaming Uish or stabbed into flesh of a warrior fleeing. They were running his mind though, they were running from less than thirty auxilia who held only omniblades. He kept stabbing, cutting, slashing, and beating until he could not any longer. So many had died to his hands as they ran he lost count, his armor now stained in the purple-colored ichor that came from these aliens. As he rammed his blade through yet another Uish warrior it suddenly died out, without power his fist lay hovering over the aliens face now streaming blood. Dropping the corpse he looked to where he had ended up, he was near the edge of the building. Almost on top of the first defensive line he had held less than an hour earlier. The Uish to his front for some reason was no longer paying attention to the building, but were rather firing down the street toward something unseen. There had to be hundreds of them grouped up together and all completely focused on something out of sight.

A slight rumble in the earth sent dust flying, another made the ground vibrate with each coming in sequence one right after the other. Whatever it was, it was sending the Uish into a fury as they brought up heavy weapons and began firing down the street. Great machines, floating on antigrav engines boomed with power as they sent massive streaks of light downrange, Garrus wondered what would warrant such a large weapon until it suddenly disappeared in a massive ball of red light. The ground was truly shaking now as a massive red blast of energy began impacting all around the Uish defenders to his front, each of them vaporizing a dozen or two of the warriors responsible for killing his platoon. Peeking out from the building foundations Garrus's eyes went wide as he took in the war machine currently making its way down the street.

He now understood why the ground shook, he now realized why the attacking force had broken so easily in the face of his mindless attack. For a machine of war was busily smashing their pitiful attempts to fight back aside and gunning them down in the street. It had to be at least twenty meters tall, four legs, big body, with a head covered in gun turrets which streamed laser blast like a river of fire. Looking down, amidst the wreckage of an army Garrus spied the white armor of Imperial clones. Their fire now joined the massive walker as they advanced on the Uish army quickly disappearing before his eyes. Garrus was still staring blankly as the machine crossed in front of him, unstopping, and uncaring of anything the Uish threw at it. Platoons of troopers followed in its wake, going over the dead and ending the lives of any possible survivors.

The ground shuddered with each step as the meters tall legs stomped out the lives of dozens of Uish soldiers before its head-tracked others and fired.

As the machine passed before the building he had seen dozens fight and bleed for, he collapsed onto his knees. Tearing his helmet off he threw the armored shell to his side as clones passed before him in the dozens. None gave an eye to the Turian hyperventilating on the ground as they advanced like machines, no words, no respite, just a continued advance toward the enemy without a care for the dead around them. Garrus' was joined by others as they made their way out of the building. Batarians, Turians, Asari, all watching as wheeled vehicles began following the endless stream of clones. More walkers of varying designs, great wheeled monstrosities covered in turrets, they witnessed a true legion on the move.A shuffling noise came from his right as a clone in blackened armor hobbled up beside him before taking a seat against a downed piller.

"I remember the first time I'd ever seen a legion, nothing ever really matches it in my eyes. To see such a true testament to the will of man and our power to quake the earth, magnificent."

Garrus did not respond, rather, he watched as hundreds if not thousands of white armored clones passed before him without even a glare. Niner's hand went to his helmet as another gargantuan walker began its march in front of them, each thud cracking pavement, each step crushing the hopes and dreams of this world.

"Well, it took em long enough. Auxilia prepare your equipment! We are on the march!"

His voice screamed to the others who began pulling whatever weapons and gear they had left from the last hours-long battle. Garrus snatched up his helmet and did the same, pulling on a discarded Avenger he checked its thermal clip before going through several bodies and pulling whatever extras they had. When finished he formed up beside twenty other auxilia before Niner gave the order and led the column further into the city. Each step was like walking through a marsh, each thud another warning of what was to come. He was an Imperial soldier now, a number in a sea of other numbers who in the eyes of his commanders meant nothing.

"For the three thirty-fourth!"

Looking to his left and right gave him purpose though as the platoon answered Niners call.

"For the three thirty-fourth!"

**Ashley.**

"Ashley…."

"Ashley….."

"Ashley WillIAMS!"

The voices, oh god the voices never stopped… Curled up against the wall of the hole Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams cried until she could no longer produce the tears which had stained her face. She had screamed until her voice had gone raw from use, yelling pleas for help or begging for forgiveness. None came of course, no one came to save her this time from the personal demons of her past now leaping out and attacking her in full force. Kaiden, Baker, Mulrish, two squad members from Eden prime she had personally seen die right before her eyes. All people she had let down, all friends she had left to die on battlefields no one would ever remember. Who knew what had happened to the galaxy since her capture, had they taken over? Were the reapers forgotten by the people left to fight an even bigger threat burning their worlds and enslaving their people? These were questions she would have been asking herself if it weren't for the decaying skull now screaming into her eardrums.

Kaiden was gone, replaced by Baker, a squad member from Eden prime. He'd died to a Geth grenade, his body ripped in two by the explosive blast. It showed on his corpse-like form with what was left of his decaying flesh and armor riddled with the holes and puncture wounds that could only have come from a grenade. Unlike Kaiden he didn't stare and he didn't speak, all he did was repeat the same scream from Eden Prime, the scream which had come from his mouth as he saw the grenade land at his feet and dentate.

"God, please, help me. If you're up their god I need you right now. I'm sorry, I'm sorry for everything I've ever done but please, please oh merciful God, release me from this hell."

Nothing happened, not a peep and not a whisper, only the screams of more squadmates joining together in a chorus of death which she had been a part of. Marines, civilians, it didn't matter as the bodies began piling up around her and reaching for her shivering form as she tried to make herself smaller and smaller into the wall of the sinkhole.

"Shepard, Shepard, if you're out there I need your help."

"Not this time Williams, there is no SHEPARD to save you this time."

No, not him again. Kaiden in all his burnt glory came to the front of two dozen corpses all eying her.

"You really think he will come for you in your darkest hour? You really think he would move the galaxy to save some Alliance marine he'd forgotten the moment he stepped off the Normandy? Please, he erased the memories of you the moment he determined you no longer mattered."

His breath stank as he spoke the words, spittle flying from his burnt features and striking her face.

"He'll look at me and ask yourself that same question."

She closed her eyes, unwilling to stare any longer at the man she had once called friend. Two skeletal hands grabbed either side of her head as his voice entered her ears.

"I SAID FUCKING STARE WILLIAMS, LOOK AT WHAT HAS BECOME OF ME THANKS TO SHEPARD! LOOK AT WHAT I HAVE BECOME!"

Pulling her eyelids open she was forced to stare again, stare at her friend, her squadmate, her fate if he had chosen something different.

"A corpse, a dead thing that was thrown away like the nothing I was. Just like you will be should he be given the chance. I am your fate, one day or another, unless you change your path. Look into my eyes ashley, look at just what you will become."

She screamed as light began to shine from those blackened orbs, and her fate was revealed. A burned-out city, covered in shell craters and the rubble of a civilization torn asunder. The sky was black with ash as green bolts of energy impacted in the distance with wicked explosions signaling the death of yet another warrior of the citadel. Panning to ground level she saw bodies, and the burning wreckage of a dozen citadel pattern IFVs. Her vision panned lower and lower, passing over hundreds of helmets cracked or broken open by enemy weapons fire. Alliance, Asari, Turian and salarian, even a few krogan here or their lay in heaps of dead flesh and armor. One body that looked too familiar caught her eye, the way it was worn, the way it fit, she recognized it just for what or who exactly it was. The blue-white camo was unrecognizable, with plates missing in places she could see the wounds underneath as they began to pool blood around her. Slashes covered her chest piece, laser blast had burned out her legs and arms, she was on the ground crying and muttering something or another as a group of four shadows suddenly overcame her dying form.

They were Alliance marines? Blue and white armor, yellow stripes denoting rank, but there was something off about them. Their M8s were right, standard issue by the looks of it, their gear looked like it had taken a beating but was well taken care of, but something just wasn't right about the four marines staring down at her body, what was it? Then it clicked, her eyes or what were in the place of her eyes noted the symbol velcroed to the shoulder plates of each of the marines staring down at her dying form.

The imperial cogwheel in blood-red iconography, but that couldn't be right. No marine in the alliance would ever turn their back on the organization which had led their people through the stars, and so easily turn their back on their own people would they? In a second she was proven wrong as one of the former marines planned a boot on her hand which had slowly edged down her side for a weapon.

"What do you think you're doing lassy?"

Scottish, he had a Scottish accent of all things. The marine peered at her chest plate, perking up as he recognized her name he turned to his compatriots with a voice full of laughter.

"Holy shit! Williams, Ashley fucking Williams! We bagged Shepards bitch!"

Shepards bitch? A comm signal, scratchy but readable came through with a voice she hadn't heard in weeks. Full of sorrow, misery, and a hint of anger she heard the one man she knew could rescue her from the hell in which she lay in.

"Ash, Ash are you there?"

Lips cracked and stained with blood, she attempted to key with all her might and just barely gained the power to do so.

"Shep….Shepard…"

"Ash, goddammit. I'm sorry, I'm so goddam sorry."

She could hear the emotion in his voice, the heaviness weighing down on him as he tried to speak. It sounded like he cared, it sounded like he truly cared, after all, it almost sounded like, no. He'd turned her down before, that couldn't be the reason.

"Ash we are falling back in all sectors, the Imperials have overrun us everywhere. Im sorry, I can't come get you this time. I'm sorry Ash but the council takes precedence you know that."

Tears streamed down her face as the former marines began going through the pockets on her armor, rifling through them as she lay there bleeding to death before them.

"Ash, Im sorry, goodbye."

"No….."

Ashley stared at her own corpse, the dying body being pushed around as the marines found something of value and showed it to her buddies. Panning out her view began to take in the surroundings as more beings came into view. He first to pass the marines was a stormtrooper, his armor colored in an urban scheme was suddenly joined by a dozen others as they passed the marines looting the corpses. None have a glance to the three, passing along without a care in the world. More marines followed behind, their armor all sharing the same blood-red imperial symbol as the view panned farther and farther out until she could no longer see her own corpse. The citadel burned, its arm lay blackened in areas ravaged by conflict, now in orbit, she could see the arrow-shaped silhouettes of Imperial star destroyers as they fired away on the arms below. How many people died in those blasts, how many civilians looked to the skies in horror?

"So you see now, you see just what would've happened if you followed Shepard."

Kaiden, she was back in the hole now, back in the wet mud filled prison cell that now served as her torture chamber. Except he was no longer screaming in her ear beside a hundred other ghosts of the past. He sat beside her against the wall, his knees pulled tightly to his burned-out chest plate as he stared at the water in front of him.

"He let me die Ash, he let me die out in some barren world no one would ever remember so he could get at that bastard Saren. When i first met him I thought he was the greatest thing in the galaxy, a man who could make the stars move by himself, a true hero."

He chucked a pebble into the water with a resounding plop, his eyeless sockets tracking the ripples in the water before he spoke again.

"I thought he was everything, the world. On that day I was proven wrong, on that day I finally figured out he didn't care about me, about us, all he cared about was how well he looked in the spotlight."

Ash was taken back at Kaiden words, he couldn't truly believe this, he was dead!

"You're not real, the real Kaiden would have never said that about Shepard!"

The skull turned, even without skin she could tell it looked at him with pity.

"He'll let you die, he'll let you die and never even remember your name. Just like me, just like Jenkins, and just like everyone he let die on Akuze, Elysium, and Torfan. The man does not care about you and he never will, why do you think he turned you down for Liara?"

What?

"But, but he didn't…."

"Really, you believe that? You really believe he turned down some got Asari whore who was more than willing to share a bed with him? Who are you, a marine with a reputation covered in shit versus one of the most beautiful women to come out of Thessia, please. Don't lie to yourself Ash you know what he did."

"I thought, I thought he cared…"

"Yeah, and look where that's gotten you. An imperial prison camp full of Ex alliance officers. Look at the fucking picture Ash, your loyalty to Shepard has earned you nothing but pain its time to take your destiny into your own hands. Get with the fucking program."

"How can you sit there and lecture me, you're just a corpse."

"I'm a corpse due to circumstances, you have the chance to actually have a life and you're going to throw it away in the name of a man who would throw it away like it was a gum wrapper. I want you to live can't you see, I don't want you to end up like me!"

At the last word he sighed, his body shuddering before tears began to stream down his skull from the black sockets of his eyes.

"Live Your life, even if it means turning your back on the past. Dont hold on to it anymore if you want to live, kill it if you have too."

Dirt was kicked into the hole, signally the arrival of her captors. Looking back to her left she saw Kaiden had disappeared, along with any voice which had spoken to her, they were gone, finally gone. The officer from earlier looked down from above, a devilish smile on his face as he noted the resignation on Ash's face as she made her decision.


	19. The age of war, is over

**May 20th, 2183 Serpent Nebula, the Citadel.**

The citadel, the place of government for half of the known galaxy, the center of trade and commerce for a trillion souls, lay clouded in a sea of civilian transports. Shipping lanes once full of freighters or bulk ore haulers now lay clogged in the mess of a station-wide evacuation. Millions of people sat at its docks, peddling their devalued currency or personal belongings to secure a ride off of the station in the hope of just surviving another day, another hour in this ruptured galaxy. Riots broke out as ships left, hundreds died from both CSEC and the people themselves as they realized there would be no escape for them on a world far from here.

Many wished to turn their anger towards those they deemed responsible for all of this, those they deemed as targets as they awaited their fate. Humanity, the newcomers who had been here for close to three decades, now lay in the sights of every citizen who blamed this entire situation on them. Who was attacking? Humans. Who did the empire support above all else? Humans. Whose ships had committed Genocide on a galactic scale and cut off half of the known galaxy? HUMANS. All this hate, all this anger for a species many saw as nobodies only boiled to the surface under the pressure of imminent Imperial occupation.

Mercs, CSEC, even random citizens who had banded together in their shared hatred for humanity, it didn't matter. All across the Citadel human citizens were hunted down by these groups and killed due to the species they had been born into. Tens of thousands died in an hour as raving bands of mercenaries used APCs and other armored vehicles to deal with any possible opposition. What had once been the Systems alliance sector on the station, the last true bastion of a free people not united under the Imperial cog, lay ablaze under the fires of hatred and racism. politicians and generals tried to reason with the rioters, telling them they were on their side, that they fought the empire tooth and nail just like them, it did not matter. These brave few died like the rest, butchered with omni blades or cut down under ME fire.

Admiral David Anderson was still at Citadel's central command when the first reports of this ongoing genocide hit the news. Reporters from every station available live-streamed groups of marauding people committing these acts upon defenseless civilians. From the spires of CCC, Anderson could see the black smoke rising from the human sector as fires burned out the place he had once called home.

"De'Thul come on!"

What was left of high command had bunkered down, waiting out the inevitable as reports of imperial warships came from the edge of the system. Their ships lay in ruin across a hundred systems they had called battle too, millions of sailors now left to float in the void as the map of Citadel space became bleaker and bleaker by the day. Two months thought Anderson, two months and the most powerful government to ever exist in this universe now lay broken and shattered upon its very capitol. How many planets had he watched in real-time be butchered? How many soldiers had he left to their fate as his fleets ran, ran for the Mass relays at the edge of the system in the hopes of surviving for one more push, one more attack, one more day of living?

It was all for naught now, those ships, those troops he had heard screaming over the radio, the people he had left to die were just that, dead. All of them were now dead, their systems now firmly controlled in what CCC had deemed the red zone. The areas of the galaxy now controlled by the Empire, the places they had willing let go in the hopes of building a rock for the empire to die on. There had been rocks, defensive bastions that could in their day stand under the greatest fires, wither the harshest storms, and come out on top, willing and able to fight off this menace to galactic society. They had burned, the ships and troops responsible for their defense had broken under the withering fire of the imperial war machine.

There had been scant victories of course and here their allied fleets would catch an Imperial warship alone and unattended. A star destroyer here, a cruiser there, scant victories which would then be made front page in the news as a sign to the people that the tables had turned and that the allies were pushing them back. And then the other stories would play, of worlds burned, of cities razed to the ground, of massacres of until proportions being enacted upon the populations of worlds which had for a thousand years served their people.

"Holy shit, look at that!"

Anderson looked to the vidscreen as a freighter full of holes and billowing smoke crash-landed into the Human zone. Fighter followed it in, blowing holes into its structure before it crashed with an explosion capable of making the ground shake even here. Every officer in the room felt the vibration but none paid attention, all were too busy watching sensor buoys around the nebula pick up on Imperial warships slowly but surely closing a noose around the station. What had started as small frigate class warships scooting around the edge of the buoy's range had quickly turned into something they had all waited days to come. First one, then two, then five, a dozen, a hundred signals came back reporting the same exact ship coming from all directions. Star destroyers in the hundred now lay prowling at the edge of the system, waiting on the order to attack. But what were they waiting for? This puzzled Anderson and everyone else, in the past they would attack as quickly as possible and bombard any resistance into submission, so why wait?

The answer came in the form of Systems alliance, or he should say former alliance vessels began approaching from the Mass Relay. Systems alliance troops transports shot out into realspace beside a dozen Imperial troopships loaded for bare. Each Of these vessels, constructed using Alliance funds and crewed by alliance personnel now blared out their new allegiance in the form of their identification codes. INV York, INV Moscow, INV Delhi, INV Phoenix, to name a few, each of them had once dutifully served the system alliance in one way or another. But those allegiances were gone, destroyed in the great betrayal as it was called in the alliance military. These once proud service members had turned their guns on the people they called warriors willingly and damned a hundred worlds to the empire.

The TV reporter was rambling on about something or another as yet another atrocity was committed upon his people. In these last hours, he could see the pull the empire had on his former servicemen, how quick their fellow species had turned on humanity, how fast they went for violence when it came to the human question. At this point, he was slowly hoping the empire would begin their assault already so that the real war could begin and this senseless massacre would end.

The double doors to the room were suddenly thrown open as gunfire reverberated off the metal walls. Two CSEC officers fell inward, covered in blood and missing limbs, the Turians fell in a pile of gore as the aggressors entered the room. Every officer and guard pulled their weapon as a hundred beings entered the room that had once been reserved for Citadel command. The killers had come for his head, he would not go willingly.

**34th Special Operations Brigade, 1st Battalion, Bravo Squad. **

"All systems check."

"Check."

"Check."

"Check."

"Rog, control all systems reading green, we are good for drop."

"Rog Bravo Lead, forty seconds, prepare for insertion."

Imperial Intelligence had been on the station known as the citadel for a month now, combing areas and providing strategic oversight to high command on just what they would be facing here. Actual agents, random civilians, and former Cerberus operatives turned Imperial provided everything they needed to determine where to hit, where to bleed, and where to stroke the fires of hatred. The riots that currently ravaged the station were of course there doing, a bribe here, a losing of restrictions there, and the overall atmosphere on the station created by the encroaching imperial advance had all led up to this moment. A single spark had started it all, a provocateur located on the docks had been activated at just the right moment to set the entire station ablaze. A batarian, paid off by an unknown source, had brought an assault rifle to a systems alliance sock and let loose.

Screaming obscenities, and every manner of hate-filled spittle he could, his unknown source of income had promised an extraction in the form of an undercover CSEC team. What he had found after gunning down close to a hundred people and running toward the predetermined extract point was a CSEC tactical team that let loose on sight. A day later, after the shooter motives had been determined it began. Groups of humans both loyal and unloyal to the alliance banded together and attacked any alien who found themselves within the Alliance zone. Hundred died to bats, Omni blades, and beating as anything not of homo sapien descent was killed off or driven out in the hours that would later be called "The day of revolution." Ever since humanity had come onto the galactic stage it had boiled under the surface of smiles and cooperation. The hatred the races felt toward the newcomer, the small acts of violence perpetrated by those deemed "radicals." The worst of it all was the councils continued allowance of Batarian pirate raids on alliance worlds, the aftermath of which resulted in lip service to the alliance due to the human batarian cultural differences. This only let it fester, for years, decades, this hatred only grew as both sides squared off below the surface and began seeing each other as nothing more than rivals. No one would admit this of course, in military and political circles it was all smiles and laughs as the council announced the new age of prosperity both sides had entered.

This was all a lie, a sham they told themselves to make them feel good at night as they looked over the growing number of attacks on humans and nonhumans. The empire capitalized on this wholeheartedly knowing in the event this turned into a race war they would be welcomed as the saviors of the human race by their people. They would be welcomed with open arms, to the joy of the people who had suffered for too long under an alien appendage. They would-be liberators.

"10 seconds, all pods showing green, all commandos prepare to make the empire proud!"

Bravo squad stiffened within their armor, all too ready and prepared for what was coming next.

"DROP….DROP….DROP."

Drop pods, a tool used to insert special forces and pathfinders since the beginning of the interstellar war. These cylindrical devices could house four soldiers and safely allow them to be launched from orbit and onto the surface of a plant or space station. For boarding actions, the pods came with a laser-heated drill capable of blowing through armor plates and into the bowls of ships. Right now they were to be used as a transport device for depositing the first imperial soldiers on the Citadel. It was a weightless feeling at first, as the pod left the belly of the stealth ship and entered into the vacuum of space. Within seconds the pod's thruster activated and the pod was shot forth towards its target and blinding speeds, to an onlooker it would look like a shooting star, to an Imperial trooper it was salvation. The lances of fire breaking the black void and thundering toward the ground in a formation could mean one thing, reinforcements. But this was the Citadel, a place which had never held an Imperial trooper upon its surface until today.

"Coordinates locked, First battalion this is CC-0011. Today we make the emperor proud, today we take the fight to the heart of this alien menace! Today we bring the war home!"

In the background the audible hiss of the drop pods drill began, signaling imminent impact.

"For the Empire!"

Twenty four pods impacted along the government district with a resounding crack of the atmosphere as they broke through the mass effect fields which covered the station. Police stations, key loading docks, industrial-grade elevators, each pod had a predetermined target and objective they would take and hold until the legions arrived. A full one hundred legions of stormtroopers, alongside another thousand legions auxilia from both alien and human origin, were to land upon the station. Current population estimates with refugees from the war were determined to be around a combined thirty-eight million. Four times the normal, this overpopulation had only led to increased tensions among the populace. It would do them no good, eleven million Imperial soldiers were set to land, a hammer to strike at the center of the galaxy.

Bravo squads pod smashed into CSEC control, it's drill activated on impact the heated laser cut through feet of rebar and concrete in seconds before stopping at the first opening it came upon.

"Blow it."

Coming to a stop, Bravo two slammed the door release mechanism as he unlatched from the pod's harness. Two explosive charges blew off the half-ton door and flung it across the room they had landed in, smashing an office entirely. The dazed CSEC personnel who currently occupied the office space were still getting their bearings when the first white armored figure flew out of the opening and opened fire. Eyes wide, the officers screamed orders as they drew all manner of weapons on the invaders. They were still clearing their holsters when the first blue bolts impacted a trio too close together. One was followed by two, then the last as the commandos got to cover and began eliminating the potential threats.

"Left side, behind the overturned drink machine."

"Got em, twelve degrees left of that, two in an unused cubicle."

"Grenade out, target destroyed."

There was no yelling in their helmets, no panic in their voices, only the calm words of four brothers who had done this on a hundred worlds.

"Last one back right, looks like an officer, disabling shots only I want him alive."

Accepting their Sergeant's order two bolts shot out to the right and impacted the ankle joints of a Turian male who had been in the middle of running away. His screams gave them an acknowledgment of success, with the four moving in quickly to secure the now downed Turian.

Bravo one moved to the side of the turian while the other three took up the defense, kicking away the pistol the officer had been using he extended his built-in blade and brought it to eye level with the downed alien.

"Citadel Command and Control, where is it?"

The alien continued to scream about it destroyed ligaments to the annoyance of Bravo one.

"Fuck you! You bastards! Oh spirits, oh spirits I'm going to die, oh spirits save me!"

"One, might as well just end that thing now. It'll be of no use, that's not even its uniform."

One's head turned quizzically at three before looking back at the Turian on the ground. It was then he realized his folly, the uniform the Turian was wearing was covered in blood, yes, but too much of it for the current wearer to of put out. This miscreant had stolen it then, one of the locals looking to act like a cop then. No matter, with the shove of his blade he ended the things life before moving out.

"They are here, we are to find them and end it before it starts. Move out and search."

**Admiral Anderson.**

Two shots, two kills. It would have been an achievement if it hadn't been for the fact another dozen followed behind. The command staff and their entire security detail were busy firing everything they had into the crowd of rioters currently invading the control room. Holo tables broadcasting real-time tactical feeds from a dozen battlefields now acted as cover as the two sides fought meter for meter in a blood induced brawl of guns, blades, and fist. A batarian rushed his left, the guttural noises emitted from its mouth drawing out the gunfire as it tried to slash at the Admiral with an omni blade. Falling on his back to the floor Anderson let off five rounds into the drugged-out batarians belly, each mass accelerated round tore chunks of flesh off until the body failed to move any longer.

"Hold the line! Don't let them in any further!"

Two dozen of the citadel's highest-ranking officers alongside half a dozen CSEC guards, not much but it should do against the rioters. This was CSEC high command thought, the home station of fifty thousand officers who kept rule and order over the entire station, so where the fuck where they? Anderson put those thoughts away and continued firing at the moving mass of flesh before him. With only one entrance it was relatively easy to stem the tide with a combined fire between officers and police. But it wasn't enough, one by one those closest either had to fall back or were cut down with blades and fist, their screams audible to the defenders.

Anderson was not going to die here, hell to the fuck no he was not going to die here to this mindless rabble of idiots who blamed all of this on humanity. He was an N7, the elite of the alliance and of its greatest admirals known to date. He was going to show these butchers just what the alliance….. The crowd was thinning? Turning toward their rear as something shot them in the back, something unmistakable suddenly arched overhead of those now turning toward the new threat. Something which had changed the face of warfare as they knew, something that would haunt him till the day he died, a blue laser bolt. But that was impossible, the imperials were still at the edge of the system or in the process of exiting the relay, how the hell were they already on the station?

The rioters fell in heaps of burning flesh, their ranks thinning more and more in the seconds between the first blast and Anderson recognition of the imperial weaponry. Smoke filled the hallway beyond, the rabble like sounds of the crowd now gone and replaced with single shots here and there and the screams of the dying. Anderson watched and waited for what was to come, his hands began to shake, a bead of sweat going down his back as the terror of the galaxy made itself known to the center of galactic power. Slowly, a blue glow began to be emitted from within the smoke, growing in intensity as it came closer and closer towards the defenders.

Breaking from the smoke the source of it all became clear as the white armor of an Imperial commando left the shroud. It visor the source of the light, it weapons the source of death, it was everything that made the empire, it.

This monument to their strategy, this tool to be used on battlefields far from home, now stood at the center of combined galactic operations with impunity. It was at this moment, with his back against the wall, and surrounded by what was left of the Citadel defiance that he understood it all. They had failed, the Citadel had failed. In the months of the war to end all wars, they had fought and bled to keep themselves free from this menace. How many billions had died under their command, how many worlds had been sacrificed to hold them back just one more day, one more hour? And all of it was for naught, the enemy was here, at the gates, at the center of it all, because they had failed. Who knew where this would take them, who knew what the future would bring with a galaxy ruled by these others. But what he knew, right now as he looked down at the predator in his hand, was that he would not go out lightly, he would not surrender like so many others had, he would go down like a man, a free man, and die fighting!

Pulling the predator up he emptied its entire clip into the four machines standing before him and screamed his words of defiance.

"For the Citadel, for Freedom!"

His act inspired others, as the remaining leadership opened fire alongside the human admiral. Fire raced towards the clones who returned it in kind, four bolts, four down, four bolts, four down, four bolts….. Anderson felt the blast strike his chest, the heat rendering his flesh charred as he fell to the ground in a heap of pain. His weapon fellow from his hands as he went for his chest. He felt charcoal where he should have felt the soft fabric of his uniform, not daring to look down he kept his eyes on the ceiling as he listened to the screams of what was left die-off under the clones weapons.

"Free…..Freedom…..I..Am..Free."

A blue visor entered his vision looking down on him, no emotion, no words, it just stared down at the dying admiral as he felt the life leaving his body. Cold, he was feeling cold, so very cold.

**June 5, 2183**

They were like tendrils of an octopus, so stretched were they, so reaching, that it would take years to hunt them all down and prepare this galaxy for his rule. He had cut off the head of this great beast, the Citadel now firmly within his grasp; he could now turn his attention on the homeworlds and last bastions of this so-called resistance. Already great battle fleets were forming at the edges of his empire as they prepared yet more expansion, more growth into the former territories of these aliens. In his home galaxy, the three wars currently brimming on the border were going, the Uish had been defeated in a two weeks time, their fragile empire crumbling under the numbers of Alien Auxilia he had sent their way. Billions of their corpses now covered the worlds he had sent their way, their numbers meant nothing to him of course. For they were tools, a resource to be used and thrown away when they were no longer required.

Those fools, those very replaceable fools, had earned some of his respect though. Through acts of bravery and courage on the battlefield, he had come to believe that maybe they could be used more thoughtfully and not as the cannon fodder role they were currently filling. Perhaps some measure of tactical importance would be placed upon the Auxilia, to make some value of their lives. Hmph, maybe.

Moving the map back toward the other side of his domain, he looked upon the thousands of ships currently orbiting the "Center" of this so-called galaxy. The Citadel, an alien construct made and built some dead race. Odd, why would they leave something like this and where had they gone? Imperial Intel had pointed out that there were sightings of those same machines that had Coruscant, a single ship had gathered a fleet of the Geth and used it to attack, for what purpose was unknown. Those same ships, their design unmatched by anything he had ever seen, had been recorded to the galactic northeast in his domain before they had so brazenly attacked the capitol. There had been no record of an alien civilization there as science ships had not mapped the hyperlanes yet, keying a switch he flipped back to the northeast and selected a marker currently moving towards this area of space. A hundred star destroyers, two dreadnoughts, and twenty-five million troops were already underway toward this region of space. They would find and deal with the source of this threat, one way or another. Moving back toward the Citadel he panned toward the galactic south and toward the prize he so wanted.

"Earth."

Three hundred years ago he had called its green and blue surface home. Three hundred years ago he had stood in its mightiest cities and basked in the greatness that was human engineering. To see it so untapped, so clean, was mesmerizing. Its oceans are full of life and vibrant to his eyes, it's a great green forest still covering a large amount of its surface. Yes, he would have it all in time. He would have it all within his grasp, he was the master of his dominion and he would see it built to withstand the test of time. He would build, conquer, and enslave upon the bedrock of this shit-filled galaxy, he would make it his own, and he would rule it all.

A chirping broke his attention away from the command table, a note signaling he was being called.

"Yes?"

"My lord, the parade is assembled as you requested, me merely your arrival sir."

Good, then it was time to show this galaxy the full might of his empire, it was time to show his face to his new subjects.

"I am leaving now, begin the march."

"Yes my lord."

Traken, always a good fellow.

Leaving the command center the Emperor took an elevator to the roof of the building before stepping out into the light of the Citadel. Roads had been paved, viewing areas constructed in the empire's honor everywhere he looked. The roads, alleys, buildings, and lots had all been filled to the brim with the survivors of this great war. Untold numbers of alien faces met his eyes as he walked onto the podium erected above the formations of soldiers who killed in his name. Overhead, just outside of the atmospheric mass effect fields which kept this station alive, thousands of star destroyers orbited the station in great formations of power and steel. On a planet, these numbers would darken the skies and impede the light of a system's sun. Here in this purple nebula, they were a reminding threat to the battles which had been fought here, to the war these people had lost. Dozens of camera drones came into view as he mounted the podium and smiled upon the might of his empire. So this was it, the last speech of the last war which would be fought here, so be it.

"People of this galaxy, people of the Empire, I come to you today as your emperor, your leader in this new time."

He let his words sink into the untold trillions watching this in real-time.

"You fought and bled where so many would have rather of turned and died and I commend you for your efforts, but the time of war is gone, the time of defiance thrown away, the times of your so-called council in the past. Today we embark together on a great crusade which will see the united front of two galaxies, for there are threats we must now face together as a single, united people."

They didn't know, of course, they wouldn't have known just what the empire fought in their own galaxy. Machine races hell-bent on destroying all organic life, hive minds which devoured flesh and bone anywhere it was found, unnumbered civilizations who were more than willing to commit untold atrocities in their name. They would learn though, as this galaxy was turned into the industrial powerhouse he envisioned it being as the great factories made the weapons which allowed his empire to stand. Billions would be shipped to the battlefront, where they would die and expand the empire in his name. But that was how this galaxy worked, there was no peace in the stars, there was no community of nations willing to work together, only the neverending war his people had become so accustomed to. Orders had already been sent to the cloning labs but it would take time to construct the armies he needed; five hundred billion clones, the largest order ever made, were to be finished within three years. Three years in which he would bleed the aliens of this galaxy dry in carrying out his goals of domination.

"The Empire stands because we are willing and able to do what is necessary to bring this era of prosperity we have fought so long for. So now I call upon you, citizens of this galaxy to remind yourselves of the new order of things, to understand just what you are now. Now, to the remnants of the resistance I call upon your surrender, as you know your borders are broken, your people shattered, and your armies dead in the field. End this bloodshed now or I will call upon the most powerful weapon ever made and ensure that you will never be a threat to this empire. You witnessed its usage on Ilium, that dreadful world of scum and villainy and it brings me to tears to say that I am willing to use it on those who would still defy me. Your defiance had been noted, but the time of fighting is over, the time of the empire is here and you have been called in to check."

A titan began making it was overhead, the shadow of it basking half of a citadel arm in its massive shape. Seventeen kilometers, damn they made them big.

"For today, I hereby decree this galaxy, belONGS, TO THE EMPIRE!"

On the roads made in his honor, they began their march, eleven million clones shook the very foundations of this station as they began their march. Taking the attention away from the Emperor it eh cameras would have noted his appearance they would have seen his eyes turn a blood red as he looked upon is unending armies with a smile.

NOTE. And so end the age of war, we now enter the age of defiance as Shepard reenters the stage set in a new light.


	20. The Age of defiance

**Introduction to "The age of Defiance"**

**January 25th, 2335 (Imperial Calendar)**

The orbital spire rocked slightly as the mag clamps were disengaged and the space elevator began its descent. Such a marvel of Imperial engineering this thing, in one go it could ship an entire three legions worth of troopers and their equipment toward awaiting craft in a little under an hour, a marvel indeed. Billions of them awaited below at four dozen elevators just like this one, grown, built, and made into the thing they would be for the rest of their lives. Imperial clones were not recruited, they were bred as the apex warriors in this galaxy and the next. Tools to be used by the Generals and Admirals in charge of them who fleets, armies, and battle groups across the stars. On a hundred worlds these men, no these tools would be used to the best of their ability in pursuing his goals and the objectives he set out.

Three years, three long years he had waited for this army to mature and become what he needed of them. Trillions of credits had been spent, with millions of moving parts needed to obtain the genetic material, equipment, and manpower but in the end, it had been done. And now he would personally see the tools of his empire, the men bred for war. This was nothing new of course, since the beginning of the empire he had used clones in place of regular humans due to the fact they were superior in every way. No genetic deviation, built-in immunity to every disease imaginable, made from the DNA level to be the best of the best and that is what they were.

One hundred and three worlds, that was how many his armies currently faced battle on against no less than five different alien empires. The Uish and their cities of steel had held out till the last dozen planets they currently occupied, it was only a matter of weeks for their kind to last. The T45s, a machine race hell-bent on eradicating all organics, was a much larger threat and had swallowed billions of Auxilia in their great wars of attrition. Those poor bastards the auxilia, for three years they had been the ones to hold the line while his empire grew and built the tools it required to begin their conquest anew. Then there was the Bakan, an Avian race to the galactic northeast that had been encountered for the first time by his expeditionary fleet. They were an odd one, half avian, half-machine, they were a hive mind but not at the same time with blue cords of synthetic flesh molded into their former feathered bodies. A real nasty one that Imperial intel still didn't understand just what had happened other than the possibility of a machine uprising.

Then there was the mind, that's it, just the mind, a race of insectoids whose only goal in life was the consumption of all organic matter in the name of its mind. A disgusting alien race, they had already killed off a single Imperial world before HIGH COM had dispatched a fleet and dealt with their transgressions. After this show of force they had sued for peace but how long it would last was still up for debate. No alien race in the history of the empire had been at peace for too long, for war was all they knew from the beginning of time till the end of it.

Moving on his mind turned toward the darker side of things, of a war the empire had won fairly against a lesser foe years ago. The Citadel council, its members being the councilors themselves had fled without a trace after the capture of the citadel and had become a government in exile. Ever since Imperial security had been hot for any lead that could have led to their whereabouts and had found nothing for once. Now they led a rebellion that had coined the name "The army of freedom." Freedom, as if they deserved it, the reprehensible beings. The AOF were little more than pirates and gangs of terrorists in his eyes who raided Imperial shipping and conducted attacks on far outworlds with the goal of "freeing" them from Imperial tyranny. If only they knew, if only they knew why he had conquered their galaxy, why he needed the materials and arms of an entire galaxy to fend off a threat to all life as they knew it. The last enemy, and the most hated one at that, responsible for the deaths of entire worlds, they were to be feared by every Imperial citizen for they were the thing in the night. The darkness which would shroud their worlds, quite literally and end all civilization as they knew it.

"The keepers of the Shroud."

Just the name sent pangs of fear into his mind, a conglomeration of a hundred empires, their species enslaved by beings not from this space or even this dimension but rather a hellscape that he couldn't come close to understanding. Even Imperial intel were baffled by it all, the sheer weight of their being a hell dimension made of emotions and things. Those "things" being what researchers had come to call demons. Literal demons, beings of emotion and raw power that needed pain and misery to become one with realspace. This was why the keepers of the shroud were so dangerous, as when they came upon a world mass slaughter would commence to act as a conduit for this other side. The demons would then come, in the hundreds, they would leave the shroud and commence an all slaughter of every living thing possible. A dozen Imperial worlds had fallen to these hellish things, billions upon billions of people slashed and eaten by things which should never have entered this space.

If the other wars were bad then this, this was the worst of it all. An army to hold back hell itself, tens of thousands of star destroyers, close to fifty billion men under arms and it was barely enough to hold back the psionic armies of hell itself. The galactic south had been set ablaze by this war as planets became nothing but shell craters and burned-out cities with Imperials and the forces of the shroud dishing it out in open combat. One hundred empires worth of men and material would do that, their ships, their soldiers, were now nothing but plaything's to the shroud as they smashed themselves upon the imperial lines. They would die gleefully for the chance to get a glimpse upon their god dimension, before they succumbed to their essence being ripped away and eaten by hell itself.

The latest developments from the Empire had only added more worry to the old man, reports of Psionics within imperial society. Of children born with mind-altering powers, threats, all of them, a threat to every man, woman, and child upon those planets. He would never publically acknowledge it but the Imperial security bureau had been tasked with hunting down these persons and ending them beforehand.

"Docking in thirty seconds, please stand back away from the doors."

For an elevator meant to move armies, his small party looked microscopic against the mile-wide platform. The Emperor, Commander Traken, and a company of the Emperor's legion were waiting for the elevator to finish its landing sequence as the doors opened and the world came into view. With a wave of humidity, the air condition and orbit capable space elevator gave way to the temperature of this world.

A part of three legions awaited them, prepped and ready for departure the clones stood in perfect legion formation at attention as the Emperor began to descend the steps toward the Governor of this world.

"Governor, it has been too long."

**334th Adri Prime Auxilia, January 30th 2332**

**Former Uish world of Yun.**

Artillery impacted somewhere close as the bombardment entered its twenty-fifth hour. A continuous barrage of five thousand guns up and down the entire front would act as the preparatory attack, hopefully softening up the machines before the Imperial army began its assault. Lieutenant Garrus Vakarian sighed as another skyscraper toppled to the ground a mile away, its cloud reaching spires taking a full minute to finally impact the ground with a monstrous explosion. Such was the life in the Auxilia, nothing new to report, nothing new to see, just another planet where he would lay down the laws of the empire and show them the error of their ways. If only Niner were here, the poor bastard. Running his hand along the clone pauldrons on either side of his armor brought back the memories of his old officer.

"Old." He thought.

"He wasn't even fifteen yet I was calling him sir."

A year and twelve days, that's how long it had been since he;d lost his friend to a group of four T45 bots. They'd been on a recon patrol with their platoon, deep behind the machine lines they were to conduct a long-range recon patrol of an old Uish village that had recently been taken over by the T45s. Crazy to think this planet held three different empires all fighting over the same scrap of dirt were his thoughts, but here they were, Imperials,T45, and the Uish. A mile out they could see what was left of the villagers, their purple skin set them apart from their green surroundings as they noted what the T45s had done with the bodies.

"Monsters, fucking monsters all of them."

The bodies had been compiled into a field beside the village, thrown on top of each other with no regard for their former lives; the humanoid robots were busy searching the village for survivors when the Imperial heard a scream from within. As one the bots began moving toward the sound, the red beams on their head transfixed on where it had come from they moved to where it had come from. A door was flung open and an Uish child was seen running toward the pile of bodies, crying in its alien tongue for its mother as it ran with every ounce of strength it could. Garrus had his sight centered on it from here, he could take the shot so that the child didn't have to suffer what came next but Niner pushed the rifle down and shook his head before pointing to the sky. Looking up Garrus could see the reason for Niner's silence as two T45 dropships began lazily circling the village before coming in for a landing. Their platoon had the weaponry to take on such a threat, but out here, deep behind enemy lines, to alert them now would be a death sentence.

So Garrus looked away as he heard the first screams of the child, a mile away he could hear it all as the machines did what they do best and eviscerated the poor thing. Not a sound could be heard afterward, the robots didn't speak, they never did. Only through actions were their intentions made clear as one bot marched up to the bodies and used a flame type weapon to burn them to ash. This is what they did, collect bodies burn, collect bodies burn, every organic being to enter their realm would suffer the same fate as the last, death. And they were to hold the line on a former Uish world, to stop the T45s advance here and now so that a dozen Imperial worlds may prepare for their coming. In the beginning, back when he had been running with Shepard he had thought the imperial navy was the most powerful force in all of the universe. An unbeatable machine capable of making the galaxy spin to its tune.

How he had been wrong, so, so, wrong.

The first time he had seen a ship break orbit and crash to the earth he'd been mesmerized. How something so massive, so full of power and killing potential could just, fall, was just….. He didn't have the words, and the only way he could describe it was a feeling of despair. He remembered its name plastered on the side of the hull in black blocky letters, INV SORROW was emblazoned on its side as it crashed, sending up a mushroom cloud so large it blocked the sun. That fate would be the same across every ship, every fleet, and every army that stood in the way of these machines, if they did not stop them here and now. This was the planet, a key to an entire sector of forge worlds responsible for building the empire's latest weapons.

"Control this is Skav six, eyes on four fives in the village, the current population is destroyed how copy over."

"Rog Skav six, the rain is coming, bunker down and await orders over."

So they waited, the rain in this conversation was not the wet droplets of moisture most culture associated with the word but something much, much worse. It was a rain of steel and plasma, a rain meant to destroy not grow, a rain meant to end life as they knew it. Garrus clutched his now standard issue E-11 as the first shells streaked overhead and impacted the village. Four minutes of shelling rendered the village mute, all traces of its once-thriving people gone and in its place the shattered remnants of a once prosperous people. This was how you fought the 45s, no survivors, every scrap of their kind burned. On the return trip the platoon had followed a different route than before, so that the enemy did not spring in an ambush on the way back they kept low and out of the way, taking cover as soon as 45's were sighted. They were two miles away from their trench work when it started, so close yet so far, the trap was sprung.

It started with the lead member stepping on a bear trap, the plasma claws of the device cutting off both of his legs as he went down screaming in pain, and then they came. 45's in the melee configuration, close to a hundred of the robotic monstrosities sprinting out of the woods on either side of the platoon. In the place of a plasma rifle they had two sets of foot-long glowing claws capable of tearing a man in too within seconds, and they did so gladly.

"Ambush!"

Red fire met the attackers, sending two dozen down in the first minute but they kept coming. Having closed the distance they hacked away at the platoon with the cold calculated fury only a machine could have, there were pleas of mercy, screams of help, all for naught as the machines did their work. Men fought and died around him in the ensuing melee, back to back with Niner Garrus blasted away at anything that dared to get too close.

"Hold the line, hold the fucking lin-"

The weight as his back was suddenly taken away as a gurgling sound replaced the Lieutenants voice on the radio. Turning Garrus witnessed the unthinkable as one of the 45's ripped the LTs torso from his legs and threw the body to the ground, as if finished with its target the red glowing eyes it held focused on Garrus as they brought up its still dripping claws. He would have none of it, with a scream of Defiance Garrus switched his E-11 to full auto and fired off close to fifty rounds in the span of theory seconds into the mechanical monstrosity. Under the withering fire, the machine broke apart before his eyes as it died, broken and malformed due to the sheer amount of thermal energy having impacted its body. Garrus rushed to the Lts side as the rest of their forty man platoon took care of the rest, finishing off the survivors with well-placed fire.

His legs gone, the LT was busy fiddling with his Omni tool, inputting commands and speaking codes Garrus was at his side as he spoke his last words.

"Garrus, oh, I'm dying Garrus, thirteen, thirteen campings and this is how I go, Hah."

Hitting the helmet switch, Garuus pulled off the clone's helmet as his eyes met those of his dying friend. Blood was pulling on the sides of his mouth and his eyes held back tears as he looked toward his legs and then back to Garrus.

"Take this, Take it Garrus."

In Niners hand was a rank plaque, his rank plaque he had just torn off his armor.

"Do the three thirty-fourth and the Empire proud my friend, its time, its time I go meet my brothers again…."

His eyes took a glassy look as he spoke, the light in them diminishing before his hands fell away. It took five minutes for Imperial LAATs to be on scene and collect the platoon, or what was left of it. The crews were all regular humans, enlistees from all manner of Imperial worlds. They perked their noses at the aliens among them wearing Imperial uniforms and carrying Imperial weapons in their arrogance. Some even went so far as to make a snide remark until they saw the lone turian carrying a clone officer in his arms with a Lieutenant rank plack firmly on his breast.

That had all been in another world at another time, a different time. Now he was the platoon leader, a commander of forty men who called him sir. He had big shoes to fill with the death of Niner and he had tried his hardest to fill them. The clock ticked down to zero hour as the last shell impacted the front, it was time. Rising from his hiding place in the trench the turian officer activated his built-in loudspeaker and began screaming orders to the frightened auxilia around him.

"Alright, you fucks! Over the top! Over the top! Today we march for the Empire!"

It was going to be another long, blood-filled day.

**Coruscant 975th Imperial Army Regiments, Former Uish world of Un.**

"Over the top! Over the top!"

Across the mile-long front, the regiment took hold of this world's dirt and began their march toward the machine lines. Beams of green and blue arched out of the destroyed alien city to their front but they moved on. An AT-AT in the middle of firing off its last barrage was suddenly cut in half by a lance of yellow energy but they moved on. Fighters and bombers were cut from the sky, like flaming birds they fell to the earth among the thousands of Imperials but they moved on. Medics went to the wounded as they cried out amongst the sounds of war while the army moved on. This was the way of war when you fought machines, having to sacrifice your compassion, caring in the faces of such monsters was a requirement.

Captain Ashley Williams understood it all now, after years of service to the empire she understood why they had done the things they had done. Why they had to break her before she could reach her true potential. WHy they had to break her and mold her into the officer they needed in the wars to come. She had seen machines that tore men to pieces, avian-like creatures covered in wires and tubing that reminded her of husk back home. But worst of all, worst of all had been her third deployment to a southern galactic world that had suddenly gone dark. Every Time she thought of that day, her mind went riling sith dear, adrenaline glands pumping overtime as her flight or fight response kicked in. It had been that day she truly embraced the empire, and thanked it for the darkness it held at bay, the enemies in the night. Her new regiment, the Coruscant nine seventy-fifth had been deployed to an outer rim world alongside three dozen others in response to an Imperial naval beacon going offline, the last words of its users have been a warning about an encroaching darkness.

They had not understood it, none of them had as HIGHCOM picked the message apart for everything it had. Having replayed it again and again, picked through it components with the finest software engineers the ISB could afford, they had decided on military action. Three clone legions, the backbone of the Imperial war machine would follow eleven regular human regiments that had recently been activated on coruscant. She'd been a lieutenant then, still reeling from the action she had committed upon her induction to the empire, her first days in its service were a blur. Equipment issue, regiment issue, platoon, and company level leadership meetings on when, where, how, and why they were going. All a blur to the former alliance NCO stuck within the hierarchy of newly inducted officers. Her regiments were made up of all volunteers, those ready and able to enlist as soon as possible, and ready and able to spread the empire to the stars. Such stars they had in their eyes, virgins of war all of them, they had not understood what they'd enlisted themselves into.

She understood war, from the battle of Elysium to the hunt for Saren she thought she had understood war. How wrong she had been, oh how highly she had thought of herself as something of a veteran among the flock of newbies fresh off the homeworld. Her first meeting with an Army NCO had proved her wrong. She had attempted to communicate with the veteran, trade a few stories of her great feats of combating an Asari matriarch, or when she had fought a Kroagn one on one. The Veteran had only given her a stare as she smiled while telling her story, a cold, thoughtless stare with eyes that looked like they saw right through her. As she finished with the battle for the Citadel the veteran had nodded, with a tap of his worn and scarred armor he withdrew a small satchel that had been hidden within his jacket underneath and laid it out on the table.

"Look at that."

He had said.

"Pour it out, and you'll know what I have done."

She had thought him crazy at first, odd, but when she poured the bag of clinking metal out she understood why he had that look, why he looked at her the way he did. Why he screamed himself to sleep every night. He'd had that same look as their landing ships entered the planet's atmosphere, he;d been sitting right across from her listening to the radio as the pathfinder teams checked in.

"Whiskey one to COC, landing two alpha checking in were five by five."

"Rog."

"Whiskey two to COC, odd reading but other than that we are five by five."

"Rog."

…

…..

….

"Whiskey three COC here, status?"

…..

….

….

"Whiskey three status?"

It was a regiment wide net, all key leaders were currently keyed in as control tried to find whiskey three. Ash kept her eyes on the veteran as he started to hyperventilate.

"Whiskey three, what are you-"

"We."

Something else had just spoken on the net, something that sounded human but off at the same time. Its voice was as smooth as velvet while also the jaggedness of obsidian, what the hell was that?

"Whiskey three say again?"

"Are."

It sounded like more than one now, like a dozen overlapping voices all saying the same thing.

"Whiskey three what the hell is going on down there?"

Whiskey three had been the pathfinder team for her regiment, a hundred men sent ahead in drop pods to secure the LZ for the regiment to land. All veterans taken from other units who had fought in a dozen campaigns, they were the best scouts the normal side of the army could ask for.

"COMING!"

"Scrub channels, all units scrub channels we have a breach!"

Ash watched as the Veteran stood in the lander and slammed into the bulkhead, his face as white as a ghost, he began to scream.

"No! No they're here, they're here! Don't you understand you fools!"

He grabbed the closest man still latched to his seat, his fingers digging into the soldier uniform painfully as he screamed into his face.

"We are all going to die, not again, not again! I will not face the shroud again!"

Then her hell began, and she understood why the empire acted the way it did. Why is was so callous, why it places little care on alien life. It only made her more determined, more faithful to the nation of people who were willing to go above and beyond to do their duty.

It was why she was now crossing the mud-covered fields of this world surrounded by close to twenty thousand people as they advanced upon their enemy. She was here to fight, in the empire's name she would show these aliens the mistake of their ways.

**Rannoch, the rings of Iron.**

She liked watching the skies at night, watching the starships as they left the drydock, and headed off to the relay or the new "hyperlanes." Every night she would come out onto the roof of her apartment block and watch the lights of a thousands ships enter or leave the planet's atmosphere. Imperial, Quarian, it didn't matter to her as she just watched the sleek or bulk vessels burn through the atmosphere in amazing light shows. Right now here eyes were caught up in watching a star destroyer as it descended from the heavens, its gray hull marked seamlessly cutting through the clouds before it came to a stop a kilometer above her city. Amazing pieces of technology, those things were, with all the guns, crew complement, and the overall design, just awe-inspiring to her inner engineer.

But there was always a darker side to things, a picture she didn't want to remember and memories long thought shut away. Shepard carrying a disfigured Liara, Wrex carrying a crying Ashley, the screams, the horrors, all of it hit her every time she looked upon the vessels of the Imperial navy. She would not, could not ever forget those days of darkness and horror as the galaxy she knew was toppled and replaced with the new status quo.

The Empire, a government who while cruel instituted order and security in the formally lawless galaxy. Gone were the days of CItadel proclamations which only assisted the few and the mighty. Gone were the days of a lawless Terminus rife with pirates, slavers, and genocidal gangs. Gone were the governments of her galaxy, the Turian Hierarchy, the Batarian Hegemony, the Systems Alliance and so on. Desotyed, burned down, and replaced with far larger. The Empire, she could see its flag from here as it flew in the breeze, the blood-red background with a black and white cogwheel in the center. Three years ago she would have hated that flag, despised it for everything it had done to her friends, her allies, and maybe if she had been given a chance, her lover. Oh Shepard, she never did find out what had happened to him, only that he had been confirmed KIA by the Imperial army. All her friends were gone, missing in actions or deployed to long-forgotten battlefields. In the army, navy, or in Garrus's case the Auxilia. He would write sometimes, share his experiences in this other galaxy as he fought some of the worst things she had ever heard been described. Tentacled monsters, purple colored demons, and raving swarms of bugs that would eat a regiment to the bone, all of it terrified her and she had chased down Saren for spirits sake!

But those wars were far away, on their side, the Imperial side of the two galaxies. She hadn't believed the clone back then when he had spoken of an empire across a thousand worlds. She couldn't believe such a raving mad man, and had guessed it to be propaganda or lies given to him by some regime or another. But when she had seen a star map, a real map taken from an Imperial star destroyer, she knew, and she was terrified. Imperial space, now including her home galaxy, was colored a dark shade of red. Covering half of its home galaxy it was hard to see how they could be under any threat outside powers. It wasn't until the map had changed, and showcased a dozen other powers of different colors that she understood the Empire and its warlike nature. At every border, at every world even close to nonimperial space, there was nothing but war. Tens of millions if not hundreds of millions of soldiers, thousands upon thousands of starships, and the military might of three trillion people had barely been enough to hold back the tide of threats.

The auxilia had been a fresh breath of air to these embattled worlds, a hundred billions souls shipped across the entryway to two galaxies, and thrust into the fires of war. So many had died, so very many that it was hard to comprehend how any of them were still alive but carry on they did. She was just glad the Quarian people didn't have to pay like some of the other races had been required too. In blood, the Turians, Batarians, Salarians, and Asari funneled millions from their worlds aboard Imperial warships and shipped them to battlefronts across the galaxy. Some called them cannon fodder, bodies to be piled up to hold the line before real Imperial forces, the clone legions or the army came in and won the day. Garrus described it as worse than the Turian military but less rules at the same time, you just survived day by day, not thinking of the next.

No her people's price to pay their new masters was something that needed a more delicate hand, and a smarter brain to fulfill. Looking up to the stars she could see the ring of Iron as its shadow blacked out the stars with its might, how its form went from one horizon to the next with its sheer size. She would never have thought something so massive could be constructed, but here it was, orbiting her homeworld, and reminding her every day what her people's price had been for their salvation.

A "mega shipyard" a gargantuan piece of engineering meant to build entire fleets and armadas in record time by using the population of an entire planet as nothing more than dock workers. Her people were the best engineers in the galaxy, with eyesight and brainpower to tackle the toughest problems given to them. So they were put to use in what they do best, building and maintaining the Imperial fleet as it strode onward toward the stars. Twenty-three million Quarians, beside another twenty billion whose sole purpose in life was the construction of star destroyers and other weapons of war. Three years ago she would have never guessed she would work for the empire and worn an Imperial uniform with pride but here she was, Tali Zorah Vas Rannoch Nar Rayya, head engineer for the INV Daedalus. She had to go to work in eight hours, getting off the roof she quietly made her way to her apartment block and resigned herself to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

**Tuchanka.**

"God damn Imperials, I keep telling them to buzz off but they just keep coming!"

Warlord Urdnot Wrex was getting annoyed with their constant patrols, the ever-present gunships which followed him every waking minute of the day. Couldn't they tell he didn't need them? He hadn't needed them when he had landed upon this rock and declared himself warlord! He hadn't needed them when he had led the armies of the Krogan people against those clans who dared stand in his way of progress! And he sure as hell didn't need them now as he ascended the steps of his throne and crowned himself the leader of the Krogan people.

For three years he had fought and bled for this position, for three years he had destroyed those which had almost driven his people to extinction with their endless wars and constant bickering. No more he thought as he sat upon his throng of stone. No more would his people commit self suicide on this radioactive ball of ash and craters.

"Lord Wrex, an Imperial delegation has landed on the pad and is requesting an audience. They say it's important."

It had to be their governor, of course, a human the empire had sent to supposedly "rule" this world. The only reason this human continued to breathe was due to the fact he would never set foot upon this world, looking to the heavens Wrex could pick out the stat fort from here as it orbited his world. That was how they did it, how they spread the fake message of rule. This governor ruled nothing more than that metal box, down here, in the first and trenches, every krogan knew exactly who was in charge.

"Let the muppets in, we shall not keep them waiting."

Ten minutes later the Imperial delegation arrived with the small "governor" leading the party. An entire platoon of troopers marched with him, their armor painted the sand color of Tuchanka they blended in with their rock surroundings as they followed this poor example of leadership.

Governor Lanton was a small man, a perfect student of political science he had entered politics years ago and rose through the ranks to become a world governor. What world hadn't been determined until nine months ago when he received the email regarding his posting. But he could play the game of politics well, like a general on a great battlefield; this seemingly unimportant human could wager entire fleets and armies behind him if he needed too, and that was how he was dangerous. The clones were an example of this danger, an entire legion of the test tube soldiers inhabited that star fort just for his protection, a little overkill but Wrex guessed he needed it out here.

"Warlord Urdnot Wrex!"

Wrex hated his voice, too nasal in his opinion.

"I bring news from the homeworld, from the Emperor himself."

That piqued his attention, earning a lock-on of both eyes towards the now sweating human staring into his own.

"Imperial scientists have cracked the Genophage, and a captured Salarian scientist helped us in diluting its effects on your people."

Holy shit, that was, that the best news he could have ever hoped to have received. By the gods, this would mean the rebirth of his people, a rise to power unseen since the rebellions and, the governor was still watching, a "but" on his lips.

"You require something in return for the rebirth of my people, spit it out, human."

The little man, and his little army of toy soldiers. He knew something bad was coming, some new law or rule that would beset his people, he could see it in the glimmer of the little man's eye as he looked around the chamber toward the hundreds of Krogan watching. Mothers, fathers, warriors all who had stood the test of time and continued their way of life as they crossed the stars. Wrex could name every single one, from former Klan leaders down to their sons and daughters, generations worth of royalty now looked upon him to guide and nurture their species in these dark days. He would not fail them.

"The Empire, in all its need, needs shock troops on battlefields where the conditions are, do I say, inhospitable."

No, no he would not dare, he would, no the empire was not that stupid. Never again had been his call, never again would the Krogan people serve a master from beyond the homeworld. But looking to the sky, and seeing that grey brock orbiting his world, he knew what would become of any rebellion. Once before, the Citadel council had come to his world asking for soldiers and the Krogan people had obliged. They had paid for this ruse, dearly as they fought the Rachni and finished off the murderous race of bugs. This victory earned them nothing, but fear, hatred, and suffering in the form of the Genophage.

He couldn't do it again, he couldn't damn his people again he just….. The cure. Looking at the mothers before him he could see their pain, from countless generations of Krogan coming out as stillborn. Piles of bodies as far as the eye could see, Krogan children, nothing but lumps of flesh piled atop one another. He knew his choice, the hardest he would make in the last three years, ever since he had abandoned his friend, ever since he had abandoned Shepard… Every waking moment for the rest of his life he would regret leaving him to die in that village, every dream was a nightmare, every moment of good squashed by the bad.

But that was over now, the future belonged to those that took life by the reigns and did good by their people. Shepard was gone, nothing but dust in the solar winds, this was here and now and he would not die like the rest. He would lead his people to greatness, beside the empire be damned.

"How many troops do you require?"

**Lazarus station, Unknown location.**

"Holy shit he's waking up! Go get Miranda hurry!"

Hot, his veines felt like magma, every breath he took was like a plastic bag being shoved down his throat and his eyes, oh god his eyes! He could see a blinding light, a surgical light to be exact, currently burning out his corneas as he began hearing the sounds from all around him hit his ears.

"Get the sedative, Wilson, get this shit under control!"

Australian? A female Australian voice entered now, and was yelling at the blad tech currently sweating bullets. She appeared overhead, white skin, black hair, an almost perfectly shaped face that was now contorted in anger.

"Commander, can you hear me! Commander you need to calm down, right fucking now or you will not survive. Small breaths, in and out, Wilson, how is the sedative!"

"Applying now!"

Then it was all black.


	21. Initial Experience

**Lazarus Station, Unknown location.**

It was dark, then there was light, a light bright enough to be a star as it bathed the area around him in its white glow. Bringing his hand up to shield his eyes he turned his face away as he realized what he had just done before pulling his hand down and looking at his fingers. Fingers, his skin, his movements, he could feel them, he could feel everything. Looking down even more he could see his toes in a soft dirt, the granules of earth making their way between his toes as he pushed his feet into the dirt. Both his hands went to his face now, the light now a regular sun as he took in his surroundings and began to feel alive again.

Dirt, dirt as far as the eye could see, was this the afterlife, was this death? His hand went to his face again, to the spot Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams had shot a hole in, thus ending his life. Who would have thought, he sure as hell didn't, that his once friend would ever have done such a thing? She'd been with him for the entire chase for Saren, side by side she had fought tooth and nail to find the bastard and had fought to the end, all the way to the Citadel. What had broken her then? What had driven here to place a pistol an inch from his eyes and pull the trigger? And why the hell had she been wearing an Imperial uniform? All questions for another time he guessed, or whenever he left, wherever the hell he was.

"Three, two, one!"

Who the fuck was that?

His eyes opened and he was gone. Somewhere else again, a place of white walls and sterile surgical equipment. A place where three people in white medical outfits were currently unlatching all manner of IVs and other devices from his body in a very quick manner. All were sweating profusely as the sounds of this place hit his ears, the sounds of something he would never forget for as long as he lived. Laser fire, and lots of it.

"I think he's awake, Shepard can you hear me?!"

"Uhhh…...ahhhhhh!"

"Yup, he's alive, alright his legs aren't gonna be used to walking just yet, get the gurney!"

Outside of his vision, he heard the squeaks of wheels as somebody far away screamed their last breath.

"Alright prepare to move him, ready! Three, two, one, lift!"

Three pairs of hands rolled him away from the very cushioned medical cot he'd been staying on, and onto the cold metal slab of a gurney.

"Med wing, come in, Med wing, come in what's the status of Sierra over?"

Shepard looked to the leader of the group, he'd seen him before, balding, sweating, last time he was getting his shit pushed in by an Australian woman. Wilson?

"This is Med wing, were oscar mike now, Sierra is secure over."

"Roger, hurry it up the imps are moving fast and were burning through people to buy you time over."

Burning through people? Imps? What the hell had happened to the Citadel military while he had been gone that they'd become so desperate that they'd throw people into the fire for one man? Why was HE so important?

"Alright people, get your thermal packs ready, we're going to walk through hell!"

A double door at his feet slid open jst as a red laser bolt impacted inside the room, the area beyond blasted the sounds of carnage and war as his gurney was wheeled out.

"Shit left side!"

"Fuck, I'm fucking hit, oh god I'm hit!"

"Frag out!"

Mass accelerator fire, and a lot of it was going off right beside him as his gurney was wheeled between downs of people in the middle of combat. Turians, Asari, Salarians, and humans passed by, giving glances to the naked man on a gurney as he was wheeled between them all. Flashes of a smile, the perking of eyes brows, he got it all as red bolts impacted overhead or into the people he passed.

"Suppress them! Suppress them now, Sierra on the move! For the Citadel!"

Sierra, he must be Sierra then. That battlecry must have been new then, he;d never heard "For the Citadel" during his time of service. The gunfire rose to new heights as every gun opened up toward the unseen Imperials. After what seemed like a full minute of his gurney being sprinted past dozens of soldiers, the trio of medical professionals entered another set of double doors. As the airtight slabs of metal closed, the sounds of gunfire and war left his ears, replaced with barked orders and grunts of exertion.

"Get that equipment loaded now! Wilson, how's Sierra!?"

The Australian from before, somehow she sounded even angrier than before.

"Fine and stable Miranda, wish you would have told us deck three was a rolling gun battle though."

She didn't answer the bald man, instead, she walked up to the gurney and cupped his face in her hand. Her too perfect face entered his vision, peering down at him as if he was an object with cat-like eyes as she pushed his head to each side for an inspection.

"No fluid loss, eyes reacting to stimuli, he's alive and breathing then, good."

She let go, barked off an order to someone he couldn't see, and gestured to something else.

"Get him loaded, we're leaving in two minutes, an Imperial task force has been spotted at the edge of the system and we cannot dawdle."

"But Miranda, the soldiers, we can't leave them…."

His please stopped as the woman turned to face him, even from here Shepard could feel the annoyance radiating off her posture.

"They will fulfill their purpose Wilson, they were never meant to leave this place and both you and I know that."

"Fuck, goddam Imperials. Alright, grab the handles, let's push him in."

Shepard considered how defeated Wilson sounded as he wheeled Shepard in, what had he just awoken too?

**Two Weeks later, CFV Resurgence of Thessia.**

"Good morning Shepard."

Two weeks of back-breaking physical therapy had led him to this moment, the catalyst of his pain being the woman he had come to know as Miranda. A cat suit-wearing, holier than thou, ice queen that had been his tormenter day in and day out as she punished him through all manner of machines and equipment to get his body ready for the day he would reenter combat. She was not one for conversation, no chit-chatting, only the treatment he needed to get himself ready, only answering small questions here and there to ease his mind as he pushed himself harder and faster.

So far what he'd figured out was simple, the Citadel council had lost the war and gone into hiding. Beyond that, he knew nothing, the status of his crew, the status of the galaxy, all beyond his reach for now as he was better day by day. But today was different, rather than enter his room with smugness and entitlement she'd entered with a common greeting, it was, OFF.

Rising from his bed he pushed his legs to the floor before standing up to his full height and stretching every muscle with an audible crack. She was still buried in her notes, going over something or another, uncaring of the almost naked Shepard as he put on a fresh set of alliance fatigues. As he finished her head rose from the datapad and noted he was ready before speaking.

"Good, it has been noted that your therapy is as of now finished, you have been deemed fit for combat Lieutenant Commander Shepard."

Now that was the first time she had used his rank, what was going on today?

"Therefore it has been deemed your best interest to begin your briefing on what exactly has transpired during your three-year nap."

"What….."

Three years? Three years he had been, dead? Oh, oh god, oh god what the fuck! He began to hyperventilate, his heart raising its beats per minute like a drum solo as beads of sweat went down his spine and neck. He had been dead for three years, three fucking years of nothing only to be woken up like nothing had happened.

"Calm down Commander, I can see your heart rate from here, you're alive now that's what matters, now take a seat while I begin the briefing."

How could she be so calm about this, what the fuck was wrong with her?

"CommanDER."

He took a seat in front of a video screen as he began opening a slide deck, his briefing of this new galaxy.

"Alright, where to begin, ah, the defeat of the Citadel."

The picture changed to that of an unending army of clones, all marching in perfect sync down a road he had never seen before. As the camera panned up he saw the arms of the Citadel and the grey hulls of hundreds of Imperial shapes as they broke up the blackness of the void. Finally, the camera panned on a man he had only seen once, long ago, above a world of metal.

"For today, I hereby decree this galaxy belongs, TO THE EMPIRE!"

His voice, oh he hated that fucking voice as it announced the conclusion of his little war, of his victory.

"Now to begin, June fifth twenty-one eighty three is known as being the day of the Empire, the day the war officially ended with a Citadel rout on every battlefield as command and control ceased to exist with the death of ninety percent of our top brass."

New images entered the screen of battles long gone, entire fields strewn with the equipment of defeated soldiers as they were marched away by clones and, what the hell was that?

"Go back, what's that normal-looking guy in the green armor and fatigues?"

"Oh, that would be the Imperial army, normal humans enlisted within the Imperial armed forces. They are widely used as occupying or mass assault troops whenever the clone legions are unable to respond."

"So, Imperial citizens?"

"Yes, from their galaxy, moving on."

The screen switched again to a picture of thousands, or even tens of thousands of former Citadel soldiers in lines as far as the eye could see. All looked broken, their armor half destroyed and the shame evident on all their faces.

"Following the capture of millions of former Citadel personnel, the Empire designated these troops as the Auxilia. A formal addition to the Imperial military made up entirely of aliens, or nonhuman. With numbers now in the tens of billions, it has fallen upon every nonhuman world to pay the Imperial tax. This tax is bodies, millions of bodies across the entire galaxy who are implanted with explosive chips at the base of the skull and sent abroad to the other side of the portal. Or where the Empire came from originally."

"So they really aren't from here…."

His thoughts went to CT-1157, the clone he had, no should not think of that now.

"Sur'Kesh was the first to fall, followed by Thessia, Earth, and finally Palaven."

With each planet's name came pics of their downfall, Sur'Kesh looked like a wasteland of burned-out jungle and destroyed mountain ranges. Thessia burned, her spires now fallen debris, and her great oceans covered in a thick layer of ash and smog. Earth, his home, was like a picture taken from the last great wars of its time. Burned-out rubble, refugee columns, and the shattered remains of once-prosperous people de-evolved to nothing more than hungry bodies. Palaven took the cake for most changed, the pic took time for Shepard to realize what he was staring at, but when he did he eyes went to the size of saucers.

"That's, that's impossible."

"Palaven was reduced to Ash by the fighting, casualty estimates were in the five billion range as the last bastion planetside fell to Orbital fire, a tactic known as Base Delta Zero by the Imperial navy."

Half of its surface glowed the color of a rising sun, it's surface hot with the fires of plasma and laser bombardment as thousands of Imperial ships circled the dying planet like sharks.

"With the final defeat at Palaven, the Empire turned away from our galaxy militarily and began to rebuild from the shattered remains. Surprisingly, Imperial investment within the destroyed zones along with the security provided by the Imperial navy has almost allowed a complete one-eighty for the former citadel nations. With this success comes a price, of course, men, material, and anything and everything the empires wishes to call for is answered in full as war material is shuttled through the galaxy gate."

"So they've turned our homes into factories then?"

"Precisely, entire planets now sprout the necessary equipment and material to produce every Imperial weapon ever made, from rifles, to armor, to vehicles, and aircraft. The majority of Imperial construction has focused on these areas, so they may "hold back the tide." Their words."

Tide? Hopefully, her briefing would go into that.

"Moving on to notable aspects of the new milky way, Rannoch, the homeworld of the Quarina and Geth people has now become the hub of Imperial navy construction, see the image."

Was that a ring of Saturn, no to metallic, not enough rocks, zooming out the picture became clearer as the object in question became more massive in scope.

"Holy shit."

A ring of metal, a ring of entirely artificial construction encircled the place Tali had shown him aboard the Normandy. Her picture had been three hundred years old, from a time when Rannoch had been ruled by the Quarian people. It looked vibrant, with hundreds of ships leaving or entering the planet's atmosphere, chock full of the people who called it home. Now though, now he could see a dockyard which stretched from horizon to horizon, millions upon millions of people working night and day as they constructed the very tools of this galaxy's oppression.

"What the hell is that thing?"

Miranda noted the object of Shepard's attention, and zoomed in on a section of the ring carrying something massive enough that it almost bisected the entire structure.

"That is a Titan class warship, we know of only eighteen in existence on our side of the galaxy. Seventeen kilometers long they come with a crew of one hundred thousand people and enough fighters to block out the sun."

He could see twenty just like it, all under varying degrees of construction throughout the yard. Was this what had become of the Quarians he knew, were they witness to their own demise?

"Ahem, moving on, from what reports we can receive from sources on the other side of the portal, we have found that the supposed tide is in fact not a lie."

A single image, so full of objects it clouded his eyes' sensory nodes, what was he looking at? What the hell was that? It took a good minute for him to understand what he was seeing, and he was horrified.

"What the fuck is that?"

"That is a battlefield picture taken from the eight hundred and seventh Palaven Auxilia Legion. A private Tescos died giving us this image, before you is what they call the mind. A race of bug-like beings whose only purpose is the consumption of all organic matter in the galaxy. This battle alone cost the Empire thirteen million soldiers before it was won, we know this because thirteen million auxilia were sent and never seen again. All Turian by the way."

The numbers, holy fuck, all of it, everything CT-1157A had told him all those years ago, it had all been true. From the numbers, to the scope, all of it.

"To Sum it up, the former Asari, Turian, Batarian, Salarian, and every other alien race in the galaxy creates and sends forth the weapons which the empire uses to fight threats just like this. Meanwhile, Earth has become well, it's easier to show you."

It looked the same, green pastures, blue oceans, but something was off to Shepards eyes. Something that just stung as not right, something…

"Are those, Orbital guns?"

Hundreds, no thousands of the stations circled the earth, black dots from here, he could barely pick them out but somehow he did as he looked over every square inch of his former homeworld.

"Earth has become a fortress world, where cloning labs, military barracks, and infrastructure meant to favor the defender are more common than anything else. Its entire population has enlisted into the Imperial army, or met more disastrous results."

All of it was just so overwhelming. To see everything he had fought for turned on its head was, angering to say the least. But then…

"Who the hell are you people then, why did you resurrect me?"

Miranda ended the presentation and looked to the commander.

"We are what is left of the Citadel council, the remnants of a bygone era in some people's eyes. Now, who am I? Miranda Lawson, former Cerberus top operative, and former Imperial prisoner commander. Are you done asking questions now?"

He had more questions than he was willing to admit but he was listening much more attentively now, and he was watching her much more closely.

"What do you mean, former Imperial?"

"I escaped an Imperial indoctrination facility a year after my capture, pretty sure I saw your former squadmate Ashely Williams while I was there but it's all hazy, to say the least. Now I serve the Army of Freedom, the remnants of our people who still wish to see our galaxy be taken out from under the yoke of oppression."

"What about the Reapers then, where do they play in all of this?"

Miranda's face scrunched up, burning itself in her data pad she looked over something before giving her answer.

"It is noted in Imperial naval records that a great battle took place before they came to our galaxy, they describe ships that resembled squids, thousands of them attacking with the mindless fury only AI could attempt. This battle of Coruscant as it is called bright forth the Empire to our galaxy, and created the rift which links the two."

It was a lot to accept, alot to deal with, but he was ready. Ready to dish out some payback to the Imperils once again.

"So when do we get to work?"

Miranda smiled.

**Imperial Colony world of Freedom's progress, Terminus February 3rd, 2185**

The old Kodiak shuttle shook as it entered the atmosphere of Freedom's Progress. Odd name for an Imperial world, but it was a pre-Imperial alliance colony so it sorta made sense. He and ten others filled out the cargo bay of the dusty shuttle, all human, all former alliance. After his briefing with Miranda, he had been quickly brought up to speed on modern weaponry and armor. More thermal protection, less shields, more emphasis on armor-piercing ammunition than the normal blocks. All needed for this new age of warfare where the enemy held laser weaponry and armor capable of defeating all but the most destructive of rounds.

After that he'd been taken to the bridge of the ship he had been aboard, thereafter meeting its Asari Captain he had been tasked with meeting with a local insurgency that was currently battling Imperial forces. That local insurgency was what had brought him and ten others to Freedom's progress, all elite soldiers, they had been scrambled together to find the leader of this group and set up ties between them and the AOF.

Army of Freedom, Shepard had laughed at the name when he had first heard it but soon noticed nobody else had joined him. He had been quickly informed by Miranda that the Council took the name very seriously, as did everyone else who had signed on to free themselves from the Empire.

Back onto Progress, this Insurgency had started out as nothing more than local alien workers striking against harder and harder Imperial laws. Laws which began prohibiting their rights, curfews, random ID checks, raids by local police, all of it only got worse as some members of society began to fight back. Being the Terminus, the colony had more than an abundant share of arms from all over the galaxy so when the first shots were fired by the local security forces, the locals had returned them in kind. Population estimates put this world at less than nine percent alien, but that nine percent had started a fire that had spread to the industry of this world, basically cutting them off from its one real export.

Progress was noted to be a mining world, where special ores were extremely ores being tungsten, steel, and titanium. These ores were then shipped off-world to a system three jumps away and used in the production of Imperial walkers. With the delay of ores, production would either halt or slow, thus earning somebody, somewhere a respite from the Imperial military. And that was why Shepard and the ten former N class commandos around him were currently being sent here, to find out just what the insurgency needed so that they could keep fighting. To absorb more Imperial resources and bleed the Empire just a little bit more.

Flipping through the mission briefing on his datapad, a small section caught his eye, requiring more of a look. The group was called the People's Liberation Army of Progress, an alien led force consisting of mostly non-human persons from across the planet. AOF estimates put their numbers at twenty thousand and rising by the day as security forces clamped down harder and harder with every loss or advance. Meanwhile, on the other side of the coin, Imperial forces numbered in close to two hundred thousand police officers from all over the planet, alongside a former Alliance infantry division that had turned traitor during the war. Two hundred and twenty thousand Imperials, nine million planet-wide citizens, and twenty thousand rebels, all currently battling it out or stuck in the middle of a fiery shit show.

"Ground team, prepare for a hot infil! Locals report Imp triple-A cutting down anything not flashing their codes!"

Their Batarian pilot did not sound like he was having a good time as the ship rocked back and forth to dodge the incoming rounds. Thankful they were all strapped into their crash webbing as the ship suddenly shuttered.

"Fuck, were hit! Controls are still responding but I don't know for how much longer!"

"Shepard, are you there!"

Miranda's voice echoed through his mind as the ship began to take massive G forces.

"Yes!"

"Alright, just a heads up an Imperial task force has been spotted heading our way. The estimated time of arrival is three hours, no more, no less, get in, attend the meet, and get the fuck out, clear!"

"Rog!"

Another shudder of the craft, and the pilot's cries suddenly turned to panic.

"Fuck, all control gone, we're going in! Hold your hats!"

Another crash landing lets see how well this went.

"Ten seconds, I've cut off all power so we just have to go through our landing! Hold on!"

Five, four three, two…

It was violent, with a shearing of metal the Kodiak impacted the earth's nose first before tumbling forwards once, twice, three times as it hit something capable of stopping the orbital dropship. With the last thud, the craft came to a stop with the red emergency lighting showering the surviving occupants in its cheery glow. Shepard's head was swimming as his hands went to the chest release and sent his body crashing to the floor. Not the worst landing but certainly not the best was his response. The other occupants of the Lander were completing the same task as they checked over their equipment of those who were stuck to their seats. One member of the team was still in his crash webbing, his head on his chest as his buddy smacked his shoulder.

"Sandler, yo sandler, fuck, Commander Sandlers done."

"Rog, booby trap the body, we won't be getting it out."

It was a reality of missions like this, when someone died you couldn't trudge the body through the snow and hope to make it back in one piece. It was better to let the opposing force find the body, and die trying to check for any intel. With a sigh, the N soldier placed an explosive charge under his dead friend, said a small prayer, and made his way to the doors of the shuttle.

"Anyone check on the pilot yet?"

"Doors not responding, no idea."

"Alright, open up the crew doors, we need to find out just where we landed."

Two of the operatives tugged at the manual door release and opened the compartment to the outside world. Four guns came up as their surroundings came into view with the first four soldiers moving out to secure the perimeter. Shepard followed behind with the rest.

"Clear, looks like a local apartment block sir. Orders?"

Shepard brought up his local map, noting local Imperial and insurgent forces before drawing a route out on his pad.

"Alright, it looks like we're closer than we expected, little under a mile to the designated meeting point but we're gonna have to make our way through at least a platoon of local police. They've set up a checkpoint directly in our path, nothing we can't handle right?"

Each of the N's agreed.

Shepard put away the map before looking to where the cockpit on the Kodiak should have been and noted its absence. So that was where the pilot had gone.

"Alright staggered formation, move out!"

Honestly, this city was kind of a shit hole. Everywhere they moved all they found were corpses, burned out buildings, signs of fighting, and more corpses, all human with maybe a single alien here and there. What was begging to worry him about said corpses was the nature of their clothing, no military, no cops, all civilians, and each of them cut down either execution-style or with grenades. Signs of ethnic conflict, but that came with fighting a xenophobic empire hell-bent on our destruction. Still a sad sight to see, as smaller forms began to be seen among the adults of the population. This was for the galaxy, for freedom.

In the distance, it was nothing but the sounds of war, the cracks of high-velocity weapons, the booms of high caliber artillery, and the screams as jets flashed overhead. Here and there a different type of sound would shatter the sky, alliance bombs, or former alliance bombs going off somewhere as aircraft dropped munitions across the entire city. Was this what the galaxy was like? A never-ending war as both sides blew each other up and ruined the places they lived and breathed? A Kodiak flashed overhead making the squad go to cover as it flashed a spotlight onto the street below.

"Imperials, get down!"

There were no AOF here, and the insurgents did not have air cover. Shepard hid behind a burned-out air car, the driver's corpse still smoldering as the brick-shaped aircraft slowly went overhead. It could have passed for anyone with its white camo paint had it not been for the Imperial cog wheel slapped on both sides.

"Shit, must've seen our bird go down. They're out looking for survivors, Williamson!"

The N6 perked up at his name and turned toward the Commander.

"Get the tube ready, if they start rappelling shoot em down. We don't want an entire platoon on our asses out here."

"Rog sir."

Corporal Williamson pulled the launcher off his back, activating the weapon from safe to armed; he began tracking the craft as it moved down the street. It took ten minutes for the Kodiak to depart, ten long, sweat-inducing minutes as it slowly but surely moved down the street.

"Alright, form up and move on, be mindful of any more air support."

This was a full-on war and here they were, now nine men sent behind enemy lines to find an insurgent leader and gain his support. Fuck this was stupid. He should have said something at the briefing, exposed his fears of something like this occurring. He didn't know they were this desperate for allies, willing to sink this low to find somebody who could enable their cause. When he'd looked out of a viewing window toward the AOF fleet orbiting a nebula he had never seen before he was reminded of the old Quairna migrant fleet. Every ship class, every ship type, maker, crew complement, all of it was their as it floated through the void. Every war capable vessel had been sent off, to hide at the conclusion of hostilities.

With this fleet was the council somewhere, hidden deep within the defensive rings that made the AOF flotilla. He wondered if it was still the big three, having heard about Anderson he already knew the answer for him. Anderson, his mentor, leader, was dead. Killed off in the last days of the greatest war, what a shame. As he took up alongside the other nine soldiers, he swore he could see a red glint among the ruins to his front. One blink it was there, the next gone. Odd.

**1st Battalion 3rd Freedom's Progress infantry division, Freedom's Progress.**

At the tactical operations center of one three ID, the area was abuzz with activity as orders were sent out to frontline units and situation reports were funneled to awaiting officers. One of these officers, Lieutenant Colonel Yakson, commanding officer of the first battalions was busy watching the holo map as forward elements of Alpha company cleared HAB block three when a lieutenant from the S2 called his name.

"Sir, I've got activity from the downed Kodiak in sector four!"

He and every other officer in the TOC had seen the brick-shaped craft as soon as it entered Progoress's atmosphere. Having determined it to be aiding the rebels, he'd had it shot down. Furthermore, he wanted eyes on the craft itself and more importantly, its occupants. So he dispatched a platoon, and a new weapon sent here from the local Imperial forge world. The Probe Droid, a weapon infused VI hooked up to some of the best optics a frontline commander could ask for. He;d received twenty of them in the last shipment from Tussar six, and was currently using them to great effect in finding, and eradicating this little rebellion.

It was so different from his days in the alliance, so much more fluid, streamlined, the bureaucracy was gone. All of it, the rules and regulations, had been turned aside and the new improved ways of war were taught to them all. Three years had served the Empire, three years since had taken to the oath and turned on the weaklings in the alliance. Here he was, the garrison army of an out of the way Imperial mining world. Not a bad gig, considering battles were being fought were a million casualties a day was considered a success. But then this rebellion had come, the aliens on this world had bitten the hand that fed them, and he would teach them the error of their ways. Now to see just what his new toys had found.

Leaving the table he bent down to eye level with the techs screen as it showed the live feed from droid number fifteen.

"Holy shit…"

His eyes went wide in surprise, then fear, then hatred.

"Commander Shepard, hero of the Citadel, pervator of the human way of life, S three!"

"Yes sir!"

He had twenty guns on the southern side of the city, and he would deal with this menace before it chewed him in the ass.

"Get Divarty on the horn, I want them to level HAB block four, and S two, inform the local task force of our findings, priority code Sierra."

"Yes sir!"

Yes, one block of this city was worth nothing. Shepard would die and Yakson would make General officer.

**Shepard.**

This was the place, the area in which their meet and greet would bear fruit or turn rotten. All nine of hius operators were currently holding the defense in the upper stories while Shepard waited in the basement of the HAB block. They were late but what did you expect from a bunch of locals rising up against an entire army division.

"Movement, two hundred yards east. I'm seeing three ground cars, armored up, sporting crew serves."

"Rog, let them come out front and prepare for them to enter."

Fin-afucking-lly.

Minutes later he heard three sets of boots hitting the stairs as he rose to meet the locals. His first sight was of a Batarians missing two eyes, nothing other than that out of the ordinary other than the fact he hated Batarians. Next was an Asari in old, battered, Eclipse armor. She had the usual, stick up her ass posture he expected from anybody who would sell their soul to a bunch of mercs. Last but not least was a sight he hadn't expected from the rebels, a uniform of a thought dead organization, an organization he had once belonged to, the Spectres.

The sight of the office symbol of the Asaris chest was a sight to see, odd, he;d never met this one in all his travels in hunting down Saren but that was a gimme. Shepard extended his hand to each of them as they gave him looks of wonder and spoke their names. He heard them, but did not pay any attention until the last member of the party spoke.

"Tela Vasir, Spectre Tela Vasir Commander Shepard. Now mind telling me how you're back from the dead?"

"Long story with a lot of moving parts, now shall we discuss the way forward?"

They then went into their rebellion, how they fought, and bled the locals as the bodies began piling up and fighters enlisted to their cause. They spoke of great triumphs as battles were fought and won against uncountable odds. The need for supplies was their most worrying cause as munitions became more scarce by the day, they needed the AOFs help, and they were here to beg.

"We need the army, we need fighters, supplies, and anything else you can give us if you think we're going to be fighting for much longer."

"Commander, I don't know what resources the army had but, I think it would do all of us good if we were given a way out in case things do go astray."

Shepard mulled it over, activating his Omni tool he went over the closest AOF fleet capable of pulling in twenty thousand people and grimaced. Freighters, old carriers, all capable of doing such a task but food would only become scarce as the council pulled more and more resources.

"Shepard, incoming!"

Miranda, oh shit!

The building rocked on its foundations as artillery landed just outside. Dust was flown into the air as the basement occupants hit the floor, the building rocked again as yet another shell impacted outside.

"What the hell! That's Imperial artillery, how the hell did they find us!"

Tela craned her neck toward Shepard, her eyes narrowing on the human commander as the ground shook with another impact.

"Your not fucking Shepard, hes an Imperial, kill em!"

Her two compatriots didn't require another word as they pulled pistols out from under their jackets and opened fire. Shepard mind went into overdrive as his muscles responded automatically to the threat. In less than a second, his own handgun was up and he'd already dumped four rounds into the batarian and asari leaders as Tela went for the stairs in a biotic dash.

"'Sir, orders ah!"

One of the Ns screams was cut off by a biotic attack ripping him apart. Shepard was hot on her heels, determined to make sure his men did not die to these people's stupidity. Why had it been so easy for them to go straight for the blame game the moment the Imperials showed up, why had Tela wanted him dead? These thoughts were on his mind as he clambered up the stairs and found a blood bath. In a space of less than five meters, a firefight was fought between the two sides with deadly effect. The Ns, while elite, were being cut down at point-blank range as the rebels mowed them down with the magic of more firepower. Tela was already out the door to her waiting transport as more shells landed among the HAB buildings. That when Shepard noticed it, why this place had felt so off ever since his men had first stepped onto this planet.

The rebels were all nonhumans. Every single one was an alien of some species or another and their hatred for humanity was shown as they began to butcher his men before him. Rushing the downed warriors, Batarians, Asari, Salarians, and Turians slashed and cut at his men as he extended his M8 and began cutting down the blood-crazed aliens. Three, four went down before his heat sink popped, throwing a grenade he went behind a pillar as he popped another one in and returned to his grizzly work.

"Shepard what the hell is going on down there!"

Miranda was screaming in his ear as the vitals of his team went down, thankfully his killing spree had earned them a respite as the rest of the rebels refocused on the one human.

"Death to the apes!"

"I'll wear your fucking skin two eyes!"

What the fuck had he and by extension the AOF gotten themselves into? Four Batarians rushed him with cleavers made up of scrap metal screaming for his blood. He obliged in the form of superheated projectiles turning their flesh to paste. Seven remained, all armed with rifles, and all more than ready to cut down Shepard. In their rage, they had forgotten the N's who by now had recovered from the initial onslaught and had just then opened fire.

Five guns cut down the rest in a fusillade of fire, the yellow tracers stitching through the bodies as the rebels danced in the light of their destruction. As the last body hit the floor Shepard took a deep breath as he went over just what the hell had happened.

"Shepard, this is Miranda, what the fuck just happened!"

"Fuck, Miranda, locals are fucking insane. They've committed an ethnic cleansing on the local human populace. Be advised they attacked first. We need extract now! I've got men down in the field!"

"Shit, I was afraid of that. Alright, I've directed a shuttle to recover you on the western side of the city, sending the location now. Listen, you're going to have to cross through Imperial lines to get there but it's better than fighting off the rebels, how copy?"

"Rog, we'll wait for the bombardment to end before we move over."

This day just got worse and worse.

**Miranda, CFV Might of Palaven.**

The situation had gone from bad to worse, Imperial bombardments was flattening the entire city block and Shepard had been attacked by the locals. Ethnic cleansing, insanity, fuck it all to hell. AOF drones were now being dispatched across the entire city and what they had found had been disgusting. The rebels were nothing like intel had described, the blood-crazed murders were not freedom fighters, but butchers. The UAV pilots were too busy keeping themselves from throwing up to keep notice of every new atrocity they came across. Men, women, children, it didn't matter as seen so of butchery played out across the entire alien sections of the city.

"Uh, Mam! We have contact from the relay!"

Great, just fucking great.

"What is it!"

"Imperial, designate as Victory-class star destroyer with, wait there's more coming through now!"

While the captain was busy sweating over the new additions to this system's fleet arrangement, Miranda was busy tracking Shepard's ground team as they advanced across the city. It was a running gun battle for the guys on the ground as Rebels and Imperials fought tooth and nail to kill the AOF special forces team. She witnessed Shepard take down a Mako with an AT launcher just as a Turian ran at him with an Omni blade. She didn't need to watch as he disemboweled the alien before moving on. She had done better than expected as she watched him very carefully, in every battle he would win, every fight taking down more than anyone else. Yes the resources to bring him back had been costly, but seeing him in action made it all worth it.

"Oh shit, three Star destroyers all Venator class following behind, along with a dozen cruiser class. Fuck its the task force!"

An Imperial task force, clones, legions of warriors whose sole purpose was war. This was about to get very bloody and this rebellion was going to end within the day. She needed Shepard out of there, now.

"Shuttle thirty-one, status!"

The pilot's shaky voice came back through the com, she could hear the pepper of AA fire as he flew through a storm of hell.

"Dodging ground fire and fighters, but I'll be able to make the RV."

"Sending new coordinates now, Shepard will be under fire the entire way so you WILL get him out of there."

"Course mam, it's what they pay me for!"

"Captain!"

The Turian officer was sweating over the incoming task force as its made its way across the void and toward the planet.

"Captain!"

That pulled him out of his daze.

"Yes, yes commander!"

"Will they be able to find us?"

His head turned, thinking before he spoke.

"Meane class stealth frigates are said to be able to latch onto the belly of a star destroyer and still not be seen. Being the first vessel of its class, we shall see."

Great.

**Shepard.**

He had shot hundreds of rounds, thrown dozens of grenades, and cut and slashed anything that came before him, and yet they kept coming. Former alliance soldiers, their armor bearing the cogwheel of the empire. Rebels, local insurgents out for any blood of the homo sapien variety, it did not matter. His team had killed dozens of each side as they moved throughout the city and toward the new RV Miranda had given him.

Armored vehicles exploded before him, aircraft went down in flames of metal and steel, and yet the war did not end. They had just crossed into an alleyway as an Imperial armor column started to pass in the street behind them. A dozen Makos with attached infantry rolled along as the team hid in the shadows.

"What the fuck is this place."

Another three hundred meters of this shit and they would be out of here, another three hundred meters through this hellscape of a planet, Fuck.

"Shepard."

"Yes Miranda."

"An Imperial Taskforce has just jumped in the system, we were wrong about our time table. We're estimating they will begin landing in less than ten minutes. Be prepared for clones in the field over."

.Great.

"Alright three hundred meters guys, that's all we've got to go so let's get to it!"

His route led them through a HAB block in the alien quarter, here they would have to be on their toes as this was the heart of the rebellion. Weapons high and on every window or door possible, the now team strength unit made their way in a single file through all manner of half-destroyed housing. Eyes peeked out at them from the windows, civilians taking a look at the newest transgressor to their property. What sounded like an alarm was sounded, followed by another, and another as they went deeper into the territory. He could feel it in his bones, something bad was about to happen and the locals were going to act.

His point man had just entered a doorway frame as three pairs of hands reached out and dragged him in. Number two followed the man in as the screams of the point man entered the net.

"AH, fuck, help, ah!"

His voice quickly became sputtery as Shepard followed number two in and found the grizzly scene before him. The points man's head was halfway off, cut with makeshift blades and household cutting knives. The house's occupants, three Salarians, looked at the two newcomers with rage in their eyes, Shepard did not let them act. With a burst, he cut down all three before directing his number two for explosives. He would not let this man die in vain, if they wanted blood they would get it. While three and four pulled security outside, Shepard and two wired the building with every single explosive they could.

"Shuttle thirty-one to Shepard, come in Shepard!"

"Shepard here."

He had just placed the last wire, the final charge which should in theory make a lasting present.

"Expedite now! I've got LAATs in the air!"

"Roger we are moving, alright double-time to the RV! Shoot anything that moves!"

They followed his order to the letter as they ran past and shot anything and everything they could. No one else would die today, not to the Imperials or the rebels. Two hundred, one hundred, fifty, he could hear the hustle overhead as it banked for the RV.

"I see you, and about a hundred people not far behind! Hurry the hell up!"

If the pilot could see them, now he was worried.

"Sprint! Sprint!"

With every ounce of energy he had, he threw himself toward the craft set down in the middle of a destroyed garden. Rounds began peppering the walls and buildings behind him, a few even striking the Kodiak as the team finished the last leg of their deadly journey. Shepard was the last aboard, jumping in just as the craft began to lift off he turned around and looked down on just what the pilot had seen. It was like when you kicked over an ant hill, when the dirt was brushed aside you could see thousands of ants everywhere you looked. Looking down as the shuttle rose, he could see the likeness. There had to be thousands of people leaving the hab blocks and filling the streets to the brim with a wall of flesh. Gunfire was still going right past the shuttle as he pulled the detonator from his vest. With one last look, he smiled as he depressed the switch.

"That for my men fuckers!"

An entire building shattered, the explosion taking out everything within fifty meters as the mushroom cloud went skyward. Hundreds had to of died in the blast, with more wounded beyond repair from the shrapnel. Shepard only smiled, having killed the butchers on his terms. Stepping off the floor he went to close the hatch when the craft suddenly veered to the right and he was thrown into the wall of the craft, only able to stay inside as two pairs of hands grabbed his body from being thrown out.

"Shit, hold to something!"

The reason for the pilot's erratic maneuver was not apparent until a blinding beam of pure white energy suddenly went off right beside the Kodiak. Shepard had to shield his eyes as the blinding light exerted itself upon the ground below him and the pilot's voice met his ears again.

"Laser bombardment, holy shit they're not messing around."

Upon the lights dimming, Shepard brought down his arm and looked below to just where the blast had been targeted. The HAB block he and his team had just been at was gone, burned away by the fires of an Imperial warship he couldn't even see. Falling back into a seat, he let out a deep exhale as he let it all sink in. All of it had been for nothing.

**Deep_Space_Platform**

All_Sections_responding.

Good, and what of the Imperial task force?

Destoyed_All_Beyond_Recovery.

Good, they were getting too close for my liking. Harbinger, what is the latest estimate on the Imperial/45 war?

Estimate_Imperial_Victory_Within_Four_Years.

Interesting, four years, and a total victory. Good to know they didn't need my help with all of that. Now onto greater things, the Geth situation had been resolved?

Yes_All_Units_Functioning.

Good, prepare a thousand, we will be meeting again, soon.

The knowing Harbinger nodded to its new master through the virtual space in which they spoke. With its presence gone he dropped the facade and once more bared its resentment for this creature. He would have his revenge, he would see the two galaxies burn, one way or another.


	22. To Omega

**February 3rd, 2185 CFV Might of Palaven. **

The Kodiak had just docked and Shepard was already out the door and toward the bridge. Behind him, his still wounded team hobbled behind as they dressed down any bleeding and made their way to the medical bay. Shepard meanwhile was on a warpath through the Turian made ship. Crewman would give the greeting of the day only to find the human officer giving only angry grunts as he ascended the elevator toward the CIC before slamming out of the door. Miranda was beside two Turians and a Salarian, each of them going over the highlighted Imperial fleet on the table in front of them.

"Standard deployment, I estimate the planet will fall in less than three hours at this rate."

"Their bombardment has not ceased once, something tells me our team was found out some way or another and this is their response."

"A dead hero will do that, to save face they;d rather eradicate the possibility of his existence."

Shepard was stomping up to the four intel officers still chatting as he shouted, shaking them out of their conversation and drawing their attention away.

"What the fuck just happened down there?"

The Salarian and Turians looked to each other, daring the others to answer for them. Miranda meanwhile looked Shepard up and down, gave a nod, and then spoke clearly.

"It was a bad op, we didn't have all the intel and well, you found out just what exactly was going on down there. So I thank you for that."

"I had men die down they're just to find out the Council wanted to ally with a bunch of psychopaths!"

Miranda looked back to the table as a line of fire erupted from the belly of a star destroyer.

"This is a war, a real war against an enemy that outnumbers us a thousand to one. There are going to be casualties, men and women will die in the field under your command. You of all people should know this."

He didn't want to accept it, but she was right. Her logic was cold and unforgiving, to her, the soldiers were numbers, ships statistics, and the war nothing but a game of applying force where it was needed. Shepard didn't want to accept it, not at all, but here he was, surrounded by people who had fought with this line of thought for three years. Three years and this was where it had taken them, allying with murderers. Fuck.

He huffed, releasing the pent up oxygen in his system before dropping his hate-filled stare.

"Goddammit Miranda, what has become of the council, what has become of the organization for peace and security!"

The woman's eyes dimmed, her hands moving the table controls as she pulled up a security video feed live from the ground.

"Come and take a look, Shepard, see what we have to deal with, what we have to fight to even stay alive, and repeat what you said."

It was a HAB block chock full of civilians running in one direction, men, women, children, all of them running as some looked behind them toward an approaching threat.

"What the hell?"

The old, the sick, the dying were left behind as the crowd ran with all their power away from whatever was giving chase. There weren't any tell-tale red blasts so no clones, or Imperial army for that matter. No yellow, red, or green racers so no former alliance soldiers chasing down a bunch of civilians, so what the hell was it? His thoughts were broken as he saw the first creature enter the screen, he had seen it before, the memories coming back as he heard Liara's scream enter his mind.

"No, they wouldn't, how the fuck!"

Those jet black creatures, all talons and blades, were chasing the civilians in the dozens as they covered every inch of the street in their pursuit of the prey. For those left behind, Shepard could barely watch as the creatures leaped upon them with blades and talons already flying. He couldn't hear the screams, but he could only guess what it sounded like as flesh was ripped from bone as those left behind met their fate.

"Whenever the main resistance has been defeated, the Empire will release these creatures, what we have come to know as Xenomorphs. Bioengineered beings made for the sole purpose of instilling fear into the populace and reminding them just how little they matter to the Empire. This same scene has been repeated on a hundred worlds, where thousands of people are chewed up and spit out as an act of terror. This is how they keep them in line Shepard, this is how they stomp out rebellion in the minds of every citizen left alive. Terror."

Shepard was speechless, having faced these things before with proper weapons he knew just how terrifying these things were. But to be a civilian, with no training or weapons, they were as good as dead.

"We have fought and bled to just survive to where we are today, it is believed with the resurrection of you that we will regain the initiative and take the fight back to the Empire for a change. With this duty you must be prepared for men to die under your command, as this is a war, a real war which spans two galaxies and we must be prepared to sacrifice."

Shepard was silent to her speech, his thoughts full of different questions and answers, he only nodded as he began walking back toward the elevator.

"Shepard, we are leaving this system for Omega, ETA is eight hours so be prepared for your next mission."

Omega, shit.

**February 3rd, 2335 (Imperial Calendar) 334th Adri Prime Auxilia. **

Three years, three long years of constant was on a front line that never seemed to change and finally, they were being sent back home for R and R. How much had changed in his absence, what had become of the homeworld, the Citadel, and even the galaxy itself? These questions plagued Garrus's mind as he felt the ship rock beneath him as it transitioned from hyperspace to real space. With their victory on the last world of Un against the T45s, the entire legion had been given leave by the sector commander, a full Grand General. He had been witness to that last charge toward the enemy lines, in that mid crusted battlefield full of the dead and dying he had watched as the legion assaulted head-on with the robotic lines and won the day.

Four thousand casualties had been taken, mostly newbies from one world or another, but they had won. Driven the enemy back and allowed an Imperial army regiment to encircle and destroy what was left of this world's defenders. The nine seventy-fifth or something like that, good soldiers, a little cocky but that came with being members of the Imperial Army. They were sent beside them to the old world, a regiment and a legion were given R and R together, unheard of within the wider picture of things. For one, no auxilia legion had even been given R and R and two, they were never working beside the Imperial army like this.

Some commanders were afraid of desertion in the ranks, call for war among the locals as they saw what had become of the men and women they sent abroad. Rubbing the back of his head, right between the two plates, Garrus knew exactly where his loyalties lied. Then looking upon the now battered white armor he wore on his shoulders, he reaffirmed his belief in the commanders above him. He was an Imperial, a spirits damned Imperial who had fought and bled for the Empire, and he accepted this. His life had changed dramatically in the last few years, having gone from a cop to a soldier tracking down a war criminal, to an Imperial NCO and officer.

"Lieutenant Garrus Vakarian."

It rolled off his tongue as he spoke his name. A true officer in an army he could be proud of. The Auxilia, the finest fighting force he had ever seen, the Auxilia, his friends, brothers, and sisters who fought on dozens of worlds and won the day, the Auxilia, his home. His self-reflection was broken by a speaker wide call across the ship.

"All officers of the three thirty-fourth and the nine seventy-fifth, report to the deployment bay for a briefing. I say again, all officers of the three thirty fourth….

Garrus didn't have to be told twice, getting up from the stack of ammunition crates that were currently acting as his chair he began making his way toward the briefing.

Ten minutes later.

Acclamators, love them or hate them, they were a mean bitch of a ship. Being the bread and butter of Imperial troop deployment, he'd ridden on close to a dozen of the things during his service to the Empire. They all had their quirks he had come to know, a leak here, an extra space there, but in general, they all shared the same shape. Garrus passed a dozen clones, who gave him a nod as he passed. Fleet marines, troopers whose purpose was the protection of the ship against boarding or other possible issues that could arise. Three years ago they would have shot him on the spot and left his corpse to rot. But times change, and seeing the two clone pauldrons on his armor they knew just who he was and what he had done. He was like them, a soldier who had served beside their brother and honored him by wearing his armor. Loyalty was everything in their eyes, and he saw to it that he respected that loyalty.

Entering the deployment bay would never cease to amaze the Turian. Dozens of armored walkers, tanks, and all manner of LAATs and their directives met his eyes. With them came the crews at work conducting maintenance in the dozens as they made sure the vehicles were ready at a moment's notice. Garrus ran his hand along the side of an LAAT as he walked past. Damn good craft they were, in a fight they were a blessing to have, and he'd ridden plenty of the things into battle.

The chatter of zones of officers met his ears as he found the briefing area. A small stage had been erected in the center of a wide pool of officers of all ranks. Captain, LTs, even a lieutenant commander here, everyone was dutifully waiting as the two beg honchos from both units ascended the stage.

They looked so different from each other, one a clone in a Kama with blue and orange markings on his armor who looked like he had a permanent stick up his ass. While the other was a baseline human, green camouflage uniform with a small rank plaque and his name. It was obvious to Garrus who carried the real authority but he said nothing of it. No one would question a legionnaire, not one of the Emperors elite, not a clone. Garrus was near the back, listening to the chatting of the local officers from his legion as his commander gave a call to attention.

"Officers of the three thirty-fourth! Attention!"

They all snapped to attention, to the baseline humans it was an oddity as they noted the different races holding rank plaques among the three thirty-fourth. All the captains and lieutenant commanders were clones while almost all of the lieutenants were aliens. Tended to happen when your frontline officers died in the field, Garrus could see Batarians, a few turians, and even a salarian among those wearing the rank of an Imperial officer proudly. Each of them stood ramrod straight, their chest puffed out and almost oozing a sense of confidence.

On the other side of the coin, the Imperial army commander looked over the now assembled officers of their sister unit before snapping to attention himself.

"Nine seventy-fifth Coruscant Regiment, Attention!"

The baselines repeated the effort with less pizzaz than the clones and aliens, but still respectable. The assembled commander spoke in private for a second before the clone took the lead before the assembled officers.

"In the coming, this ship is to dock with the Omega station. Due to our recent efforts on the world of Ur as you know, our units have been given a week's leave from the front in order to get some rest and recovery. I understand my brothers do not know exactly what this means, but the baselines and aliens understand it well. During this time, this week of freedom as it is called, there will be a set of guidelines pushed out for every soldier within our units to follow. It will depend on you, and the NCOs under your command to be sure that every soldier is fit and ready to go after a week's time. Seven days ladies and gentlemen, seven with which we shall all use as a decompression from our very long campaigns. All assembled, fall out to your respective units. We arrive in hours."

Garrus felt the stiffness leave his body as the order was given, a week, a whole week of leave, of not having to wear his uniform, of not having to wear armor!

It was everything he could have asked for, word had it they had even cleaned up Omega in the last three years. Gone were the days of pirates and gang lords ruling the station, in their place strict Imperial administrators that made sure the corruption was gone. During the Imperial assault years ago, they'd killed off most of the high-level leadership but had missed the queen herself. Wonder where she was now? Probably leading a pirate force or dead, killed at the hands of the Imperial navy. He was walking back to the elevator with a group of other three thirty-fourth officers when an Imperial captain in green camo fatigues stepped in his path and stopped. Garrus did not look her in the eye due to his height and made his way to go around when the Captain stepped in front of him once again.

"Excuse me, ma'am, I must.."

"Garrus?"

He froze, for only one person in the entire universe had that voice and as he looked down he saw the face of Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams.

**Task Force 18, Northern edge of Imperial space. February 3rd, 2185**

Rear Admiral Danforth had served his empire for close to thirty years now. Thirty years of leading the most powerful ships in existence across the stars as they burned a path for Imperial colonization. He'd done plenty of things which would warrant in some circles his arrest but in the Imperial navy, orders were given and followed to the letter, no ifs, and, or buts. Most recently his task force consisting of eight Imperial-class star destroyers had been involved in a subjugation campaign of a rebelling Imperial world. Its people, in all their grand wisdom, had decided to ally with the keepers of the shroud. Their allegiance to these reprehensible beings had earned them an early grave as his ship bombarded the planet before ten full legions of clones struck.

Such was the life in the navy, go here, do this, be done and move out to the next objective. There was always a war somewhere as almost everyone in the now two galaxies had a bone to pick with the Imperial authority. Rebels, foreign nations, the survivors of the last war, all of the enemies of the state and all of them directly in his sights.

His latest orders had sent him to the most northern edge of Imperial space, a task force just like his had gone missing. Now a missing task force was always a cause for concern with the ships and personnel having cost the Empire billions of credits. But it was the way it had gone missing, no radio, no distress calls, just gone after it had jumped into a star system not usually used by the navy. Four Venators, three Victory-class, and a troop transport, no small fleet when it came to might and so, he and his task force had been redirected to find them.

"TF twenty-three, where are you?"

"My lord Admiral, the transition to real space in thirty seconds."

It was always good to be on the bridge when these things happened, to show one's face among the rank and file men and clones as he took control of the overall situation. In the wrenches around him, the bridge crew chatted, shouting orders and muffled responses, he wasn't sure he could ever get used to anything else.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two one… transition to real space!"

The blue corona of hyperplane travel broke as the blackness of the void enveloped his view screen. There was nothing to note from the reports on this system, a blue sun, a single gas giant, and a small planetoid capable of housing life. It would probably be colonized within the decade if the local threats were dealt with. He was scanning over the fleet jumping in beside him as the watch over and radar operator suddenly tensed up at seeing something.

"My lord Admiral, the fleet…"

Danforth turned to the officer now ghastly white in his seat.

"Spit it out man, what is it!"

"Wreckage, all of it sir, I'm getting signals here from every Imperial vessel. All dead."

Danforth took a deep breath, before looking out the window toward the void once again.

"Order the fleet into a patrol pattern, we shall find out what happened here."

And we will avenge our fallen, were his only thoughts.

**The Ring of Iron, Rannoch February 3rd, 2185**

Tali had just finished her shift on the upper bridge of the still under construction INV Daedalus when the station-wide call had gone across every channel available. An Imperial vessel had just entered the system, and she was limping for the dockyards. She and every other being close enough to its designated berth was to prepare for its arrival and assist in helping with anything it's crew needed. So she found herself riding a tram with two dozen other Quarians as they rocketed toward dock thirteen with every ounce of energy the vehicle could push them. The Tramlines ran along the upper structure of the ring, allowing personnel to go from one side to the other in a little under four hours. These trains held windows open to the void, allowing the occupants to see vessels coming and leaving at all times of the day. The Quarians were all chatting about what could have happened, theories were thrown around from engine trouble to possible pirate attack but when a single dockworker screamed all of the turned toward the window facing the relay.

Dock thirteen through forty were reserved for only one type of vessel in the Imperial navy, the second largest and most powerful thing to have ever been made on the ring. A titan, a seventeen-kilometer long floating city of guns and steel that held over one hundred thousand crewmen under full capacity. These massive ships would normally be the flagships of entire fleets, their massive size and bulk surrounded by dozens of smaller ships like star destroyers, cruisers, and carriers whose sole purpose was the protection of such a valuable asset. So when Tali, and the two dozen Quarians all spotted the still flaming and smoking wreckage of a ship coming towards them, they all collectively gasped in fear.

What could have done such a thing? Was the first question all of them asked when they laid eyes on the scorched wreck slowly but surely moving under its own power toward them. Having constructed some of the metal beast of war, they knew just how powerfully armored the ships were. Meters of metal, three different sets of shields, and over one thousand guns of all types covered the ship from bow to stern. So what, in all of the two universes, was capable of almost gutting one of these men of war? Tali was still going over the same questions inj her mind as the ship entered the docking clamps for its berth and the tram arrived at its destination.

The ship had only been docked for a few minutes by the time they had arrived and already it was scenes of panic everywhere. The line they were currently on serviced the command bridge, where officers, clones, and crewmen could be found making sure the ship functioned as it was designed. So it was when the doors opened and the first thing Tali saw was the lines of bodies on either side of the hallway that she knew something had gone wrong. The bridge was supposed to be the most protected part of an Imperial ship, this was where the most power was directed for shields and armor. On a Titan class warship, it should have been all but impenetrable. So when she saw the bodies, and the ranks on their uniforms she knew, something had happened, and it was big.

"Get over here! I need hands!"

Imperial medics ushered the Quarians forward and toward the bridge. They followed between the rows of bodies, so many bodies Tali noted that she lost count around two hundred and three. The umbilical tube running onto the bridge was covered in blood from how many bodies had already been pulled out with smoke from onboard fires choking the rescuers as they entered the bridge. The deck plates were slick with the red fluid, making travel hazardous as the Quarians and human medics entered what had become of the bridge. Now Tali had worked on a Titan for three years now, three years of building and constructing the stations and crew compartment for over three hundred fleet personnel. So when she saw what had become of the home of this ship's command team, she was speechless.

Blast marks covered the metal everywhere she looked. The floor was wet with the red hue of human blood on every station or surface capable of carrying such a substance. And the bodies, so many bodies littered the floor everywhere she looked. Clones, officers, regular crewmen, and officers, it didn't matter as she witnessed every rank imaginable dead or dying on the floor. Her eyes were scanning for anything still alive when she began to note the wounds on those closest to her, and just how violent they were. Slash marks, as if long talons had physically cut the bodies in half where they had sat. She saw a clone, whose torso was ten feet away from his legs leaking an ungodly amount of blood onto the deck. But no enemy bodies, no great beast, no humanoid aliens, nothing. What in all the ancestors' names had happened here?

The medics were directing Qurians toward those that could be saved, those still breathing, or those that clung to life in these hell-like places. Tali was following one toward the Admirals area, almost sprinting as they finally caught sight of the command throne and the commander of an entire Imperial fleet.

The Admiral, whose name she didn't know, was at the feet of his command chair barely clinging to life. In his hand, he held a pistol, the barrel still a cheery red as if it had just fired, while his other handheld onto a wound leaking blood through his fingers. Two clones lay dead in front of him, by the markings of their armor and the skirts and pauldrons, Tali denoted them as being legion commanders. The medic pushed the two dead commanders out of the way and went straight for the Admiral. The old man's eyes lit up, fully aware as his hands touched the man's skin.

"No, get the hell off me shroud beast!"

The pistol went up causing the medic to swipe it away and get face level with the man.

"Sir, I'm an Imperial medic! The enemy is gone, your ship is in friendly waters!"

The Admiral seemed to have heard the man as his pistol fell from his hand and clambered into the floor, earring a hiss of steam as it hit the blood on the floor.

"Quarian, come here and hold the wound while I pull out the medigel!"

She did as ordered, having done this plenty of times before when she had served with Shepard, so she knew exactly what to do and where to place her hands as the medic went to work on his aid bag. The Admiral looked down at her three-fingered hands holding his life force inside before pulling his head up and looking into her face mask. He let loose a smile as his eyes began to take on a glassy look and his arm stretched out too slowly caress her realk.

"Such pretty colors…."

The medic had just pulled out the tube of life-saving medigel when the Admiral's arm fell to his side and his face slowly went down and left. His blood stopped pushing out between her fingers as his breathing ceased, the Admiral, the commanding officer of an entire Imperial fleet, died on the bridge of his ship, and at the feet of his chair. The medic said some words before using his hand to close the old man's eyes and getting up from the command chair.

"Alright, move out and search for more survivors. Somebody had to drive this wreck into the docks, find out who."

And with that he was gone, moving from body to body trying to find somebody alive. Tali took one last look at the Admiral before moving out toward the closest white armored form, one that didn't look like it had been mauled by an animal of some kind. Tali approached the downed form sprawled over a console with caution. Inside the trench, the blood from all the bodies had coagulated and left a sticky residue that her feet were now touching as she lowered herself downward. The technicians were obviously dead, all three of their chest ripped open but the clone was sprawled over a console with most of his white armor still white. Slowly she put both of her hands beneath his armpits before lowering his body to the floor. No small feat considering his was around two hundred pounds but with all her might she tried the most she could to lessen the blow. Another pair of Qurians moved above her, giving her no mind as they went to search others to save.

Before she had been given a job here, she and every other Quarian had been put through required medical training in the case of an emergency just like this one. Two weeks they had learned the in and outs of any possible situation they could find themselves in, one of those being battlefield trauma. Apparently in the empire, it was common for shipyards to become battlefields. So using her knowledge she went over the key points of discussion and found out the status of this trooper.

Shallow breathing.

One open wound to the leg, two to the upper arms.

Not responding to verbal stimuli.

Hooking her hands under his helmet, she reached for the depressurization switch and found it with her big finger. Just as she was about to hit the switch she felt one, a wrist grasp her hand and pull it away in an iron grip. Two a very sharp object was in her ribcage and risked piercing her suit, a literal death sentence for her. Looking down with wide glowing eyes she saw the helmet slowly but surely move, the black eyepieces locking with her before the hand and knife fell away.

"Not a demon, not a demon, medigel on my belt. Apply to wounds as needed."

Tali complied, pulling the IFAK off his belt. She pulled out the tube and began applying the clear liquid to whatever she could find that was life-threatening, small burns, large gashes, and a medium-sized slash on his leg. With that done she marked a small M in blue ink on his helmet, marking him as already having had medigel. With the life-threatening injuries having been dealt with she looped both hands under his shoulder again and pulled him up into a sitting position on the wall of the trench. Thankfully he didn't resist, his armor creaked as he finally sat up. With him taken care of, she had to move on and find others possibly in need of help. As she was walking away toward the next form, she swore she could hear a small voice speak through a helmet modulator.

"Thank you."

Three hours later.

Tali sat beside a hundred other Quarian first responders. It had been a hell of a day for all of them, literally. Tali had never seen such carnage before, not even when she had been with Shepard during the search for Saren. So much blood, so many limbs, so many broken bodies that would never move again. She just couldn't understand what could have done such a thing and how they could have even boarded a Titan. Each of the people she had personally attended to had spoken of "demons". Monsters she guessed, maybe even feral beasts let loose on the ship. It reminded her of the Xenomorphs the navy used for fleet security, but they couldn't have done this considering their blood would have cut its way through the ship on their death and then there was the reason for bodies. Or the fact there were none, not a single corpse had been found on the entire bridge other than those of Imperial crewman, officers, and clones. She couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong here, something so terribly wrong that it even had the navy personnel she had run into spooked on a level she had never seen before. She mulled over the information as she took another bite of the paste she had been gnawing on for ten minutes now. All of it didn't add up, a Titan defeated, an Imperial fleet supposedly destroyed. Something was out their, that was willing and able to go toe to toe with over one hundred Imperial capital ships and win so just what the hell was it?

Breaking her thoughts, she felt the three-fingered hand of a Quarian on her shoulder and looked up to see a red realk beside her.

"This seat taken?"

Kal'Reegar, former migrant fleet marines turned ring security. He was a good guy, always there to provide aid or defuse a situation. Not her type but she could be friendly.

"No, please sit."

The male Qurian plopped down beside her before pulling out his omni tool, the orange glow was at the edge of her vision as he spoke.

"We went through the entire ship and did not find a single thing. An entire legion beside the twenty-five thousand cops from ring security and we didn't find a thing. Isn't that crazy?"

"Yeah, did you see any xenomorphs?"

"All dead, killed in their nest areas by the same things that killed the crew. Casualty estimates are at sixty-five thousand and climbing, it's a miracle they made it back to the dockyards at all."

A miracle indeed.

"So what now then, any word from FLEETCOM?"

The red-clothed Quarian sighed, his shoulder sagging just a tad as he leaned back onto the bench they both sat on.

"Yeah, a full ten legions are to be garrisoned in the ring and Rannoch. A hundred thousand more clones alongside an entire armada to guard the ring. Strategic value absolute was what they told us but, it's just my job to make sure the rings stay safe."

An armada, maybe twenty, thirty-star destroyers with maybe a dreadnought or two. Throw in a few carriers, the fifty or so cruisers, frigates, and destroyers, and Rannoch would be the most guarded planet in the empire besides Earth and Coruscant. She wondered what father would think of it all, being the human governor's main counselor to the Quarian people, she could only wonder what was going through his mind right now.

"Have you heard about the AOF?"

All her thoughts ground to a halt at the name of the Empire most hated enemy in this galaxy. With a flash, she turned toward Reegar who was already holding up two hands in surrender before she even spoke.

"Look I'm not saying anything good about them, I was just gonna say they found another one of their bases in Terminus. A little too close to Quarian space for my liking, Imperial SF already took care of it though."

If there was one thing no Imperial citizen wanted associated with them, it was the AOF. Even a hint of allegiance to the organization and you were lost, black bagged in the middle of the night and taken somewhere never to be seen again. She couldn't risk herself or her father, an ISB team would give no care for his standing among her people or her relation to the man. They would both be gone, ripped from history, their family line dying with them.

"Kal, please I beg of you, do not bring up the AOF around me again, and for your own sake don't ever speak of them again. I'll see you later."

She left the red-suited Quarian sitting on the bench, lost in his thoughts as he stared upon the still smoldering Titan.

**February 3rd, 2185**

She was sitting in a maintenance duck, her limbs splayed out, and holding her body lock tight to the frame as she awaited the patrol below. She could hear them, their booted feet on the metal floor moving toward her as they patrolled this section of the block. Imperial police, a new thing to the former pirate world of Omega. There were fifty thousand of the officers patrolling the station at any given time. Fifty thousand off worlds, all from the other galaxy and all filled the brim with Imperial propaganda. She;d spoken with them before, drank with them as they described homeworlds of money, value, industry, all of it built by the Empire as it cared for its people on a thousand worlds or more.

She thought it was bullshit personally, lies either fed to them or bullshit they spouted to get more people to their cause. And for once, the bullshit was working. The station had changed in the last three years, having gone from the once gateway to the terminus to what it was now was a complete one-eighty. No more gangs, now more wars for territory, no more drugs or hookers on every corner, all of it just gone. So why then was it bad someone would ask? Well, when you looked deeper into it you saw the brutality, what had really happened to all those people who had once committed all those acts and been responsible for those crimes.

They were carted off, put in the hulls of ships bound for the other universe, and sent to war. Enroute and explosive charges would be implanted in their head to make them loyal, to be sure they wouldn't turn on their new masters. And on those battlefields they died in the tens of thousands, none of them returned, because none of them survived. That was how they remade Omega, by shipping off the trash to die and replacing it with what it was now. Omega had become a hub for refugees from the war, aliens, humans, it didn't matter as they were given newly built HAB blocks and settled down with jobs to make weapons and tools for the empire. If they weren't in an industry they were miners, thousands of them going to the mines every day to dig out the element zero deposits for the navy.

An amazing piece of social engineering, with jobs, healthcare, security, but it all rubbed her the wrong way with the other aspect of it all. The control, the power with which the government held the citizen under an iron grasp so powerful that it was impossible to break. It reminded her of her childhood, the way her captors kept her going, the way in which she was made and grown. Replace one evil for another, that's all it was to her. Behind all the cleanliness, all the money, all the guns, it was all ugly and she hated it.

The cops were right below her now, beat cops, they wouldn't last long against her. She was in the middle of uncoiling her frame from the hatch, her legs and arms relaxing and ready to strike when she heard one of their radios squawk.

"Juliet three, redirect to fifteenth Street, we have a home dispute in progress at HAB block three room two two one over."

"Rog Control, moving now."

She reaffirmed her grip to the metal structure, the cops leaving toward the HAB block as she waited. Two minutes passed before she lowered herself from the frame and onto the floor. Another day then, she would get her revenge, another day she would make the Empire pay for its crimes.


	23. Meetings

**February 3rd, 2335 2330 Hours CMT (Imperial Calendar)**

"They've never been on this side of the portal, how the hell did they manage to pass through without notice and disable an entire fleet Grand Admiral? A Titan is currently smoking in drydock with more than half its crew dead Admiral! Seventy thousand dead on the titan alone! Another two million dead on the accompanying ships, what do you say Admiral!"

Here he sat before the most powerful men and women in the Imperial navy. Ten of the most decorated veterans the fleet could offer, and they were screaming at him. It was not a common occurrence for an entire fleet, billions if not trillions of credits worth of men and material to suddenly cease to exist. As it should not have been, but here they were, one day after the loss of ninety percent of the seventh fleet going over just what had happened. A hundred star destroyers, two hundred and three cruisers, four hundred and one frigates and destroyers, all of it dead in the void due to an unseen enemy.

"My lord Admirals."

He was not welcome here, right now he was the target of their rage, of their spite towards the enemy, and he would bear it no longer.

"The imperial security bureau, along with fleet intelligence has painted us a picture for what exactly transpired two days ago."

Behind him a projector suddenly lit up, highlighting the galactic map of both galaxies before zooming in on the Casan cluster located two jumps from Rannoch. It was near the edge of the galactic disk, far away from any known threats. The seventh had been on a minor patrol looking for possible pirates in the area. What they had found, had sent ripples along every chain of command possible, most likely even to the emperor himself. The enemy, the keepers of the shroud, had opened a dimension to their space and ambushed the fleet with uncountable numbers. This had all been detected and recorded aboard the black box located within the bridge of the Titan, the picture it painted was terrifying.

"At zero nine hundred hours CMT, the seventh fleet under the command of Admiral Serkov had just finished jumping into the Casan cluster when the outermost pickets began reporting energy spikes unseen in this galaxy. These spikes in what we have classified as shroud energy spiked across the entire system. Within a thirty second window, over one thousand "portals" to this other space opened at every imaginable angle before spitting out two thousand ships of varying class. Aboard the vessels of the fleet, what we have termed as shroud demos appeared on every deck, on every bridge, and every barracks as the entire fleet was attacked by these creatures simultaneously."

A video began to play that was recorded form the bridge of the INV Bular, a Venator class star destroyer located near the edge of the fleet. Everything seemed normal as the ship transitioned to real space, the officers and deck crewman shouting orders or giving reports. The clones or fleet marines stood their post silently, ramrod straight as guarded the command and control center of the entire ship. Suddenly this scene of calmness was broken, as four large portals made of blue, purple, and pink light erupted among the command platforms on the bridge before spitting out monstrosities. There were great beasts of claws and talons, tentacled creatures with a dozen arms of spinning claws and mucus, and finally an ooze that leaked out of this portal to mad space. When it touched the man-made structure of the ship it hissed as if burning like acid, as the blue liquid continued to pour out, humanoid forms began to rise from its seemingly out of nowhere.

These humanoid forms took shape as equipment, weapons, eyes and armor began to appear from the blue sludge. These were the madmen, the traitors, aliens, and man alike who had given themselves over to the shroud willingly and fully embraced the hell dimension for what it was. It took less than three seconds for the clones to open fire, a red blast of energy impacting every creature and soldier alike as they tried to cut down the enemy boarding force to the man. The clones tried their best, using every weapon imaginable to them as they fired weapons, three grenades, and resorted to blades of metal at the end, but it was not enough. Numbers were not on their side with only six of them on the bridge at the time they quickly fell to the otherworldly powers.

He stopped the video there, unwilling to watch the defenseless naval crewman be hacked apart by those things. The room was silent, he and the Admirals unwilling to speak before one finally broke the silence.

"It was the theory that these things, these keepers of the shroud were unable to access our space unless an act of genocide or some other type of sacrificial event called for their coming."

This was common knowledge to Imperial leadership, having seen the effects of this upon a dozen worlds already.

"My lords, the local planetary body in the system is to blame for this. Somehow, someway, the keepers of the shroud were able to convert the medium-sized population over to their cause before committing a ritualistic mass suicide across the entire planet. Records show a pre convert population of two point three million, more than enough to bring about an event such as this."

One of the Admirals, High lord Admiral Tenson, supreme commander of the Coruscant sector fleet began going through papers on his desk. Each of them snapping against the desk before his eyes fell on something before rising and looking on the presenter.

"So, the keepers of the shroud are now in this galaxy, and not our home one. This is a fact, they have destroyed an Imperial fleet, another fact, so how long is it until we begin seeing a resurgence of their numbers upon the newly conquered worlds."

He didn't want to say this part, for it was terrifying to even say to the most powerful people bar the Emperor himself. He cleared his throat before speaking, the lump in his throat only growing larger as he carefully prepared himself to speak.

"They are already here my lords, and we are not ready."

**INV Tacitus, Acclamator class assault ship February 3rd, 2335.**

To say Garrus was speechless would be an understatement, his mandibles held wide in supposed he could barely utter a sound as he looked upon his once comrade in arms. Ash did the same, her eyes looking over his dirty and busted blue armor, they stopped on the two white pauldrons on his shoulders and the rank on his chest denoting him as an officer in the auxilia. So this is what had become of him, he was a soldier just like her, sent off to foreign battlefields to fight an enemy neither of them had ever seen until they laid their own eyes on them. Garrus broke out of his surprise, his mandibles closing in a grimace before he looked around and spoke.

"Not here, meet me at the port side barracks, room two two-three in an hour."

And then he was gone, going down the elevator beside other clones and officers of his legion. Ash was still standing there stunned at having seen a friend from so long ago, a friend she had served with under….. Her mind put their thoughts away, unwilling to bear the pain once more. One hour, two two three, she would be there.

One hour later.

No one gave her a word as she passed into the three thirty-fourth part of the ship. To them, she was just another officer, a being who deserved a greeting of the day and nothing more. So when she passed into the barracks area and stood before room two two three she took one last glance around her before knocking. Garrus answered in an instant, his clawed hand digging into her flesh and uniform as he pulled her bodily into the room and slammed her into the wall. He waited until the door slid shut once more before his blue eyes locked onto hers like a predator to prey before speaking.

"Three fucking years, three long fucking years and now you show up as soon as one good thing happens in my life. What happened to you Ashley Wiliams, when did you become an Imperial?"

She couldn't be a true Imperial, she might have been a racist yes, but she was a diehard Alliance supporter, so seeing her here his first guess was that she was an AOF spy. A spy, here to harm the men and women he served with, here to harm his clone brothers, here to harm him. He would not allow it, with her arms locked to the wall he prepared his fangs in case she tried anything stupid and waited.

"Get your fucking hands off me, Garrus!"

"Tell me your AOF! Tell me you're a fucking terrorist here on a stupid crusade to supposably free us! Let me kill you right now!"

Her hand went to something on her belt, his eyes saw the movement as he bared his fangs and went in for the kill. A weapon was discharged, an Imperial weapon at that, was shot directly into his torso armor plate knocking him backward and onto the floor. Garrus fell as his first fang slashed her face, ripping away flesh and leaving a blood streak to fly through the air. Both of them went to their wounds before looking back at each other with eyes full of hate and zeal. Neither would submit, they would fight and die here until there was a winner, or…

"I'm a servant of the Empire you idiot! I am an Imperial army officer, now stand down lieutenant!"

She was bleeding from where he had slashed her, the blood flowing from the wound as she held a standard-issue imperial pistol in her hand.

"Explain then, now."

His chest plate had taken the hit easily, so he stood, glaring at the human glaring right back.

"Fine, it started right after our capture.."

Two hours later.

By the time she was finished Garrus was seated, holding his head as he coped with everything she had told him. Of the torture, of the pain she had gone through, she had told him everything she had done or suffered from before she finished with one last memory of Shepard.

"I, I shot him Garrus, I shot him right in the fucking head. His brains splattered, his blood was all over and I, I fucking broke!"

Tears were streaming down her face as she recalled her initiation into the empire.

"The Emperor was there, right behind me telling me how good of a job I did. The man himself, you know, he looks a lot older in person."

She said the last line with a chuckle before breaking down into sobs again. He couldn't believe, he just couldn't. The words just were not real, it had to have been a lie, well thought out lie that she had come up with or, no, spirits no.

"He's dead, really dead then."

Through choked sobs, she looked up before giving a nod. Garrus wrapped both of his arms around her and she sobbed into his shoulder, the pain of it all melting off of her and into his very soul. His friend, a brother, was dead….

"Shepard, you poor bastard. I'm sorry dear friend, and if you can hear me, ill see you up there when the time comes."

The mood of happiness at getting some R and R was gone, replaced by the somberness of knowing the best person he had ever known was dead.

"All Hands, all hands, preparing for docking with Omega station, all hands…"

Ashley had stopped crying, her eyes still stained with the wetness she pulled her head out of his shoulder before standing up and straightening her uniform out.

"We should get going, our troops are going to need us."

He could tell she was still raw with emotion by the way her voice dropped, but at least she had gotten it out.

"See you on Omega Garrus."

"See you on Omega Ash."

And they parted ways.

**Omega, February 4th,2183**

Garrus was amazed, not just to what had happened to Omega and its complete turnaround, but to have the feeling of freedom once again. Looking around to his fellow auxilia he could see it in their movements and the way they acted with one another. They were relaxed, happy even, to finally be away from the battlefields for the first time in three years. Three years! He rubbed his hand along his face as he took it all in, three spirits damned years he fought and bled on a foreign battlefield. So much time, just gone, never to be recovered as he grew older. A clone passed him, the face all too recognizable he was not in his armor for once and Garrus could tell he was not used to it, and he did not like it.

The clone was wearing casual civilian clothes, slacks, button-up shirt, leather shoes, a sore thumb in the city life that was Omega now. Then there was the face, everyone knew what a clone looked like with their tannish skin, dark hair, and brown eyes. No doubt about it, Garrus wondered what the clone would be like in a week. He was eyeing the crowds of soldiers leaving for the inner parts of the city where they would find clubs and bars. Watching as the men who called him sir hopped aboard taxis or waved down vehicles, the clone grimaced. It was then Garrus noted the designation stamped onto the side of the clones head, CT-2121T, Bravo Company first battalion, his battalions, Captain.

The clone moved to a railing beside the taxi lane, looking over the city before him with a sigh as he took in the city for all it was. Garrus moved in beside him, careful to announce his presence to the war-wracked soldier.

"First time being free?"

The clone turned toward his voice and gave a nod, this was not the place for him, his place was a battlefield, a war where thousands would die, his real home.

"First time I've been out of my armor for longer than a shower in, maybe five years give or take."

A deep scar ran along the left side of his face, a reminder to where he had come from in the long time he had served his Empire.

"Yeah, it's nice once you get used to it and see it for what it truly is."

The clone gave a huff.

"My place is war, this, this is not for me."

Leaving the railing the clone officer returned to the ship behind them, Garrus watching him as he boarded the walkway and disappeared. How could he just throw away this moment of freedom, and escape from the hell they had all been through? His life he guessed, Garrus on the other hand would not be wasting this opportunity, he was in the middle of signaling a taxi when a familiar voice broke his concentration.

"Garrus!"

"Ashley."

She was wearing civilian clothes now, her hair in a bun, she walked right up to the Turian and took a spot beside him as a taxi vectored in on the couple.

"So you're going out with the troops then, sure you can make it with us Xenos?"

She chuckled before smiling.

"I served with your alien ass on the Normandy, Ill be fine."

The yellow-colored aircar had just come to a stop, the Salarian driver eyeing the two obvious soldiers as they got into the back seat.

"Where two Sir, Ma'am?"

"What are you thinking, Garrus? Nightclub?"

He mulled it over, it had been a long time.

"Night club, is the afterlife still a thing?"

"Sure is, well under new management, of course, human management but yeah, afterlife it is!"

**Shepard.**

Omega had changed, for the better of all things. Stepping foot on the once pirate home of the entire galaxy, it was a wonder to think what kinds of filth used to inhabit this station. Shepard, his N team, and Miranda were here to garner support form the local resistance group who had been a thorn in the side of the Empire since the moment they stepped foot here. Leftover remnants from the old days, not the best people but the AOF called them allies so Shepard called them allies.

"Shepard, just got a hit from the dockyards, an Imperial troop transport has just offloaded two military units for R and R in the city. The three thirty fourth and nine seventy-fifth, odd i've never heard of them doing that before."

"Two legions…"

"Well, one legion and an army regiment, different units structure."

"Well, this just got more interesting."

Their contact for the locals was meeting them in the old afterlife nightclub. Once the castle of famous pirate lord Aria T'loak, it now acted in the same capacity but under new Imperial management.

"Mask on, we don't want to be recognized out here, that means you Shepard."

Being the Hero of the CItadel had its drawbacks, especially in a post-Imperial war galaxy that knew nothing but the ruling government. It'd only taken three years to erode away thousands of year old institutions, freedoms people had known for a hundred generations gone in an instant. Shepard activated the holo mask, giving him a new face of someone no one would bother to notice before entering the double doors leading into the club. Electronic music and the screams of patrons hit his ears as he took in the night club in full swing.

Surprisingly there were several aliens, making up over fifty percent of the people he saw as he made his way through the crowds too busy focusing on drinks or each other. Three years ago he bet this place would have looked the same, save for maybe a few more Asari, he had just brushed across somebody's back when he heard a very distinct voice yell at him.

"Oi! Watch your fucking hands baseline!"

Shepard's head turned to the speaker, his heart dropping as he realized the very distinct face looking back at him. A clone, islander skin, brown eyes, and wearing an Imperial issue black undersuit. He had a drink with a small umbrella in his hand and around him were another dozen clones in varying degrees of drunkenness. What the hell was going on here?

"Uh, my bad sorry."

"Fuckin right!"

There were clones here, dozens of them he began to notice as he took a real look at the human faces in the crowd. Then he began to see the distinctness of the aliens, how they carried themselves, how stiff they appeared compared to the civilians. He was surrounded by soldiers, Auxilia, clones, and the Imperial army, fuck. Keying his throat mic, he hissed at Miranda as he continued on.

"Miranda…"

"I know, move right toward the booths, that's where our contact is meeting us."

Pushing his way through a pack of Turians smacking each other on the back, Shepard broke through the crowd and met the edge of the dance floor. A ring of booths surrounded the floor and there sitting on the third one in, a half-dressed human female sat tinkering away at an Omni tool.

"That's her, Ns provide security but don't look too special. Shepard with me."

Miranda brushed passed him and sat across from the bald woman, Shepard followed, still watching the crowds as he sat down. The women noted their arrival and gave a wink before shutting off her tool. Tattoos covered her entire body with varying degrees of artwork. Wo straps acted as a shirt to the bottom of a folded jumpsuit. To Shepard, she looked like a criminal, maybe an escaped convict.

"So, this is what the army sends. A pretty boy wearing a mask and some bitch with a stick up her ass. You don't look like much."

Miranda was not, did not take that well.

"Amazing, you insult your betters as they try to give you support. Just amazing."

The woman snorted of all things, laughing as she spoke.

"Oh calm your tits Miri, now is this the real thing sitting across from me?"

Miranda looked over toward Shepard, giving him a nod Shepard deactivated the holo mask just for a second.

"Goddam! You look better in person, pretty boy. Maybe you and I could…"

"Back to business Jack, the army needs a network for Omega and you've helped us out in the past. We have the ability to land supplies to better equip your troops, the only question is are they willing to fight."

Her interruption earned a glare as Jack pulled out her omni tool.

"WIll to right, we've been fighting every day since those goddamn jackboots landed here. You're right, we need supplies but i'm not willing to submit my guys to some shit show leadership for a couple of guns, I want real support, men, material, ships if you think we're going to follow any of your orders."

"Easy, we can start today if you want. We have a ship at the docks ready and able to provide support. But before we hand over anything we want proof you can provide."

"Provide?"

"The army wants an Imperial target destroyed before the day is out or the supplies will stay where they are."

Jack went red, mulling over Miradnas words Shepard had taken to scanning the crowd once more. Clones, nonchalantly walking around nonhumans. He didn't think he'd ever see the day but ten again, he didn't think he would ever live again. Looking over toward the bar near the edge he caught a blink of blue clothing, a familiar blue he had seen three years ago. A turian, tall as usual had his back toward him ordering something from the bar. Beside him was a brunette doing the same, the two were conversing obviously and for some reason, Shepard was zeroing in on the two. What was about them that made them so unique? A clone approached the pair, calling out to the Turian and giving a view to just who he had been watching.

"Garrus."

His heart stopped, his throat constricted, every emotion he had locked away since he rebirth flooded out as he saw his best friend in the flesh and…. Talking to a clone, an Imperial test tube made flesh like he was a friend. No, that can't be Garrus he thought, he would never have joined the Empire, become one of their pawns, a soldier in their armies. But there he was, those blue eyes, that plate color, the movements and body type, it was all there and it was all Garrus, what had happened to you.

"Shepard!"

Snapping out his stare, Miranda shook the Commander shoulder as she called his name again.

"What the hell has gotten into you, did you not just hear what she said!"

"Uh no?"

Jack had a smile, an evil smile at that on her face.

"Well since he didn't hear I'll say it again. There's a bomb under the bar, my guys put it there this morning. Now if you two did not know, every patron of this bar right now is an Imperial soldier, clones, Auxilia, regular army. All targets in my book, so, you asked for a show and I'm here to provide one first hand. Wanna watch?"

Bar, fuck. Jack pulled a detonator from one of her pockets, a small cylinder with a redo button on the end her thumb was hovering over the red spot as she looked to the two AOF officers.

"Do it."

Shepard heard Miranda say the words, just as his eyes flashed to the bar to see Garrus, a clone and, oh shit. Hatred, anger, violence all rose within him at witnessing the one person he hated more than anything in the universe, maybe even the reapers themselves, smiling as she walked away from the bar. Ashley motherfucking Williams.

Jack finge hit the switch and the club went to hell. The bartender, a batarian missing two eyes, was the first to go in the flash or orange and red. Next were the closest patrons and then whoever else was hit by shrapnel from the blast. Shepard's eyes were predatory as they watched the blast go off but continued to spew daggers at the woman who had shot him in the face. The music stopped and was replaced with the sounds of the wounded as they screamed their pain to the stars. Shepard was up in an instant, his holo mask gone he pulled his handgun from his coat and began moving toward the crouching pair of former friends getting their wits back. He heard Miranda say something behind him but didn't mind, keying his mic again and throwing an order to the N team he was lost.

"Open fire, kill all the Imperials you can, kill them all."

So much rage, so much anger, it was boiling over as he saw that face, her stupid fucking face begin to notice the dark clothed man making his way toward her. With no mask he knew she recognized him and while he continued his march through the survivors he heard the N team comply with his orders and open fire. Avenger assault rifles were pulled out of long coats, their barrels pointing at the hapless crowd who slowly began to take notice of the seven guns aimed at them and react.

"Gun!"

He heard someone shout, but it didn't matter, yellow tracers began scything through the crowd as he saw Ashley grab Garrus's arm and point toward the commander. Yes you saw me bitch, and your time has come. He was within five meters, Garrus finally noting his approach as he rose from his crouch and sized up his once dead commander. Beside him the clone of all things took a defensive stance behind, his fist coming up as if he was preparing for a fistfight. Shepard stopped two meters away, his pistol in hand he could hear the screams and gunfire around him but he blotted them out as he took in his two former crewmates.

"Garrus Vakarian."

He noticeably jumped at Shepard's voice. It was then that Shepard noted the Imperial cogwheel so proudly worn on his shirt.

"And Ashley fucking Williams, nice to see you again."

His voice was full of hate.

"Shepard, holy shit Shepard, it's really you!"

There was joy in his voice, but also, something else. Like he was scared, afraid, well he fucking should be wearing that symbol.

"Garrus, so you're an Imperial now and Ash, well we both already know your story."

"Yeah, three years now I've served in the Auxilia."

"Three years serving the empire we fought to keep the galaxy free from, did our sacrifices not mean a goddamn thing to you!"

People died around them as now Miradnad and Jack joined in on the massacre, dozens dying as they made for the exit. Already Shepard could hear sirens, Imperial police approaching, he didn't have much time.

"Shepard, you were dead, and I had been captured. I didn't decide to join the Empire, I was forced too."

"Forced! Forced like Ashley was, forced to act like that fucking test tube behind you is a friend, forced to wear their symbol! You're nothing more than a traitor now!"

Shepard brought the pistol, laying the sights on his once friend he thought out every decision that had been made up to this point. Fighting for the AOF, coming to Omega, seeing what had become of his friends, he would not allow it to continue.

"Im sorry Garrus, but the Empire will be defeated and if that means killing you and Ash, then so be it."

He was squeezing the trigger, careful not to miss when a bottle was slammed against his head. His shot went wide, impacting somewhere in the ceiling he recovered from the blow quickly and found a batarian holding a shattered bottle.

"No one harms my officer, for the empire!"

He was bleeding from half a dozen wounds, yet he still rushed Shepard. Shepards first thought was what the hell, followed by how was he still alive? At such close range he didn't miss, pulling the trigger twice he pumped two rounds into the batarian who went down with two holes in his face. Shepard turning back to the trio was then slammed to the ground, the clone having charged him and bodily impacting him into the floor. Three elbows to the face, a knee to the ribs, Shepherd could barely keep up as the clone did everything possible to hinder the operator's moments. His weapon was thrown away as he threw a punch upward and impacted the clones nose, shattering it in a spray of blood.

The clone doubled down, resorting to using his head to crater the commander's face and earned a snap as Shepards own nose shattered. Meanwhile, the Ns had noted the two soldiers still alive in the sea of bodies and opened fire on Garrus and Ashley, both of them going to cover as they dodged the incoming rounds. Shepard punched, hit, kicked,dug his teeth in, and slashed as much as he could. The clone however took it all in stride, blood flowing from the wounds he had sustained so far he had just picked up the shattered bottle from the batarian and was about to come down in a finishing move when he suddenly stopped. Shepard had been shielding his face, aware of what the clone had been trying to do and when no blow came he slowly looked up to his attacker. A crimson hole slowly leaked from his forehead, the brain's signals having been interrupted the mouth moved just a tad as if it was speaking. Slowly the arms came down, the bottle falling out of his hand as the now corpse fell over and onto his side. A shadow slowly came over him, black hair, too perfect body, yup he was gonna hear about this.

"Get up Commander, it is time to leave."

Pushing the body to the side, Shepard dusted himself off as he picked up his discarded pistol and looked for his two former comrades.

"Fuck, they escaped."

"And we should too, Jack has a way out of here now, hurry."

So they got away, no doubt he would see them again, and when he did, he would not hesitate. Leaving the scene of carnage, Shepards thoughts were ones of hate and revenge.

**February 4th, 2335 Rannoch.**

"As of today, the Imperial magistrate is hereby requiring the enlistment of one hundred thousand Quarian's, and three-point five million Geth for service within the Imperial Navy Auxilia. These few, who will be selected randomly by this government will be sent to the stars as engineers for a variety of starships in need of experienced personnel. This is a great honor, that the people of this world shall endure and embrace as we march forward to the stars. Thank you, and praise be the Empire."

The scene cut back to the local Tv new station as the talking heads gave their own two cents on the situation. Meanwhile, Tali could barely breathe as she listened to the words, again and again, thinking about what this could mean for not just her, but everyone's future. Quarians would once again be going to the stars, her people would work on all manner of Imperial warships and be valued, truly be valued for just how great they were at their jobs. Geth were going as well but just as long as they kept to themselves, away from the Quarians there would be no problems. Her work on the shipyards had been boring recently anyways, she had to call father, get his opinion and all that.

So with the flick of a button, she rang her last surviving arent and waited. He answered with a gruff voice, apparently in the middle of something or another she guessed he hadn't looked at the caller when he answered.

"Who is it."

"Father."

He quickly changed his tune, going from the asshole politician to the parent she knew he was.

"Tali, it is so good to hear from you, what is it my dearest daughter?"

"I want to join the navy."

It definitely was not the worst thing he could have heard, having listened to her stories from her pilgrimage a simple service in the navy would be nothing. But then he remembered the Titan which had docked recently, the one where people spoke of demons, monsters, killing tens of thousands of navy personnel. Hmn.

"Are you sure you want to do that Tali? I know the governor just put out the order and all but you wouldn't even be on the list, why do you want to enlist, willingly?"

"I want to see the stars again father, I want to see the tools we make in action. I want to be the difference and be the reason our people are accepted. I believe this will make a difference, showing that even the former admiral's daughter is willing to serve."

She was laying the political bullshit on thick, and he probably knew it, but she really wanted to enlist.

"I, well, fine."

"Yes!"

"But! You will contact me whenever you can, I want to know what you're doing. No repeat of the Shepard, no more death, no boarding actions, just you and the engineers ok?"

"Yes, father."

"Ok, I love you Tali."

"I love you too, bye."

To go to the stars again, to see just what was out there in the new galaxy, yes this was it.

NOTE: Gotten a couple of reviews saying this is not Stellaris, so ill say it again. This faction, the Empire, is a modded faction I made which you can do with mods in the game. Play the game, know the game, before you call me a liar or something like that.


	24. Briefing

**Coruscant, Collor Officer candidate School. February 4th, 2335**

"Good morning officers of the Imperial army, today's briefing will encompass the enemies with which we face war multiple fonts. It is paramount, to both you, and your command that you are able to currently identify the forces you face in the field today. Please direct your attention to the screens around you for your first introduction."

Around the assembled two hundred officers, the first image of a purple-skinned four jawed alien appeared in grey colored armor. The picture had been taken mid-fight, the alien in question firing a round from its weapon toward a group of Auxilia who had all been taken out by this single creature.

"Before you is an Uish warrior, an alien race located to the galactic south, three years ago in their hay day they controlled close to a hundred worlds before they came into contact with the Empire. Now, three years later and after having brashly declared war on what they deemed, a lesser species, they have fallen back to less than twelve worlds. Untold billions of their kind have died under the withering of orbital bombardment, ground invasion by the legions, and the unlimited numbers of Auxilia we have thrown at them. Their days of power are gone, their fleets almost non-existent, they now rely on time and space to continue their meager existence. HIGHCOM has put their people on the back burner for now, sending few troops to harass what is left of their people so as to keep them on their toes."

The image of the Uish warrior disappeared, in its place a black colored body of a machine standing on top of a deserted Imperial walker replaced it. At its feet, the officers could make out the uniform of an Auxlila, rushed beneath the clawed toes of the machine.

"On to more pressing threats, this is a T45 main ground unit. Humanoid in shape it is an artificial intelligence gone haywire that is now determined to eliminate all organic existence. Their numbers are endless in scope, their fleets so large and massive they are known to sometimes challenge even the Imperial navy. The T45s are a race that came onto the galactic scene two years ago. The ISB believes they were the creation of an unknown Xenos empire before they rebelled against their creators and killed them off, to the man. We have no recorded interaction with any alien within the sector they have come from.

The models of these machines differ as well, from light armor to the heaviest of siege weaponry, they are able to bring a variety of units to the field to counter any Imperial assault. Take note officers, many of you will be deployed against the T45s as your units are assembled and sent off. These battles are no small feat either, millions have already perished as they have held back the robotic tide. Entire worlds, Imperial worlds, have burned under the fires of these detestable machines. I will be expected of you to turn the tide alongside the legions, for every Imperial servant must ensure the safety of our people in these trying times.

The T45s now as you can see on this galactic map, occupy half of the former Uish worlds. These worlds, once home to billions were conquered and their populations destroyed. The war we fought with the Uish was easy for this reason, they were not expanding, they were running, running from this machine intelligence hell-bent on their destruction. The T45s stand as the second-largest threat to the Empire's southern interest. Dozens of fleets and hundreds of armies have been sent already, you will be joining them soon. Just to give you an idea of what this war will be like, here is a video sent to us from the five hundred and eighty-eighth Vakan Infantry Regiment."

The presenter clicked play on the helmet cam footage. The first scene was of the wearer putting on his Kevlar helmet before taking a wide pan view of the area around him. They were in a trench, dozens of other soldiers looking over the edge of it toward a battlefield of mud, wrecked vehicles, and barbed wire which stretched to the edge of the frame. An officer was going down the line, his eyes focused on his Omni tool as the shifting map of unit markers denoted the oncoming foe.

"Soldiers of Vakan! Today we show these detestable Xenos what it truly means to be a warrior! Today, we show them-"

His words were cut off as a blade was driven through his back, through the armor plates he wore on either side of his body, and out the front. The wicked curved blade dripped blood as the body rose as the attacker lifted the officer bodily into the air before throwing the corpse to the side of the trench. The soldiers stared, unbelieving what they had just witnessed before the attacker's active camouflage burned out and just what it became clear.

"Contact! In the trenches, in the trenches!"

Where one came into view, two-three more appeared out of thin air. The soldiers opened fire with everything they had, E-11s, grenades, squad automatic weapons, all of it focused on the decloaking attackers as they whipped blades into the defending Imperial soldiers. The helmet cam owner was busy laying into a bot by himself, his rounds melting the abomination before his eyes as its form shuddered under his withering fire. After twenty rounds it finally ceased any movement and just as it died another took its place. The last image transmitted was of two blades being rammed into the soldier's chest, before he was pulled upward and face to face with his attacker. It was an ugly thing, the T45 melee model, a face of metal vaguely in the shape of its long-dead creatures, its single optical lens was the color of blood as it killed the cameraman. The feed ended there as the presenter switched away from the video.

"This is one of many, gentlemen, our war is hard but the Empire shall prevail."

He flipped to the next slide with a symbol many in the room knew to appear with several snorts, grunts, and calls of anger.

"As I can see, many of you are already aware of this enemy. Though long defeated in the last war, the citadel councils flight into the unknown only allowed their kind to gather, prepare, and act in a new role they were unaccustomed to. The army of freedom, the moniker for those forces still loyal to the citadel council has been tick in the back of the Empire since the end of the last war. No doubt, their resources are endless with the amount of equipment and munitions held over from that time, it is the people, the manpower which keeps them alive. Those still willing to fight and die for a government long gone, it is their numbers we must defeat in this new war.

ISB intel assets put them at twenty million across the entire milky way galaxy, with at least a thousand ships of varying classes acting as their de facto navy. Planets are few and far between, with the AOF not staying too long for fear of an Imperial battlegroup being not far away. In the last three years, we as a whole have found three of these planets, backwaters all it did not take long for them to fall to guns of the navy and those legions tasked with finding them. But we cannot act with indifference toward their powers, for they are still a threat to be categorized and defeated before they can become something more. In the last three years, the AOF has been responsible for one point three million Imperial casualties, too including seven-star destroyers and thirteen troop transports. They are not a threat to be looked over, they are still deadly and dangerous on the battlefields of today. Rumor has it that one of their heroes, Commander john Shepard, Alliance navy has resurfaced but we have no evidence at this time.

Moving on, we come back to our own galaxy where a new, organic threat has come onto the horizon and has just been dealt with, peacefully. The Mind, a hive-minded race of Arachnids, they stand at eight feet tall with four legs and two very largemouths. Although be aware their forms can change based on the threats and environment they are in. This race of intelligent bugs were discovered after contact was lost with the planet known as Tix Prime, an industrial world to the galactic northeast. Within the span of a single week, this mind was able to completely eradicate all organic life and quite literally eat it. Thirteen billion people died there before an Imperial fleet was sent to deal with these invaders.

Two months of heavy combat on both the surface and in space followed before the organic ships of the mind retreated back to the dark reaches of the northeastern disc. The Empire was then contacted by this mind for a negotiation, and a peace was settled. But we all know peace does not and will never last, so we prepare, armies and troops have already been sent with more on the way, all in preparation for when the mind determines the time is right."

"Captain!?"

"Yes!"

"How many ships and troops were lost retaking the planet?"

"Let me see."

The presenter went off into his Omni tool for a moment, careful to not allow his facial movements to give away what he had found.

"So, five million auxilia and fifty thousand legionaries were lost retaking the world. Twelve ships of the Imperial navy, all victory class star destroyers were also lost, bring the grand total to five point one million."

You could hear a pin drop, one planet, and that many resources. Anymore and entire sector fleet would have been sent, truly this mind was dangerous.

"Alright, onto what were all here for, what we're all afraid of, and why we fight to keep back the darkness."

The holo projectors switched from the arachnids of the mind to something gut-wrenching, something so vile many of the officers assembled had to look away from something so despicable.

"Here we see the most dangerous we have ever faced, for it is the most dangerous thing in the galaxy in unparalleled savagery, ourselves. For the workings of the Shroud, of the hellscape which had burned a hundred worlds does not care for race, creed, or religion, it only cares for willing bodies that are able to fulfill its goals of destruction. In no other time in our history, not even the machine uprising of two hundred years ago, did we face an enemy so capable. For the soldiers of the shroud are us, former Imperials turned traitors who know our tactics, use our weapons, and fight so fanatically they are suicidal."

The picture presented on the screen was a former Imperial soldier, his gear and weapons defiled by the signs and signals the followers of the shroud carried everywhere he was smiling into the camera with delight. This would not have been bad, not more so than any other picture of a soldier of the shroud, if he hadn't been holding up the head of a clone trooper right over its former beheaded body.

"The ISB does not know how many nations have fallen to the sway of the shroud, they only know it is more than fifteen. Fifteen different races, once self-directed, have fallen to this hell dimension of demons and monsters and we, as the protectors of this empire, will not follow in their footsteps. What you see before is a traitor of the highest order, a being to be shot and thrown away, nothing more.

Not the machines of the T45s, not the sputters of the Uish, and most certainly not the misdirected ire of a lost government, no, the most dangerous thing in the two galaxies are those that can turn our own against us. Those of you who are to be sent to the front where the keepers of the shroud are currency being fought, I thank you, for you are the frontline with which those dark beings are held back. This concludes this briefing on the threats to the Empire, may you spread our grasp to the stars.

**Omega, February 4th, 2335. 334th Adri Auxilia. **

Leave had of course been canceled following the attack on afterlife. In little under an hour following the attack, every soldier on the station had been recalled to marshaling points, put in gear, and told to prepare for a fight. Garrus had been lost in thought for the past day now, lost in seeing his once best friend and brother point a weapon at his head and prepare to fire. He just couldn't deal with it, after having heard Ash tell him how she had shot him in the head, to see him again was, he was speechless. How much anger, and hatred he had shown him, how much poison laced every word he spoke, how could the man he had come to call friend have turned into that. How could he, the one who had hunted Saren to the ends of the galaxy ordered that massacre!

He was hyperventilating again, so many friends, so many comrades, had been killed by Shepards men. Clones, nonhumans, all of them he had serviced with for years, gone due to the acts of someone he had thought he had known. All of them just gone, he had cried the night after, grieving for the people he had fought and bled with through so many battles, only to be killed at a nightclub on leave.

The ramifications of the attack had been felt across the entire station, where peace and prosperity had become the norm for the past three years, it had all been shattered last night. One hundred and three Imperial soldiers form two units, all dead. It was enough for the local administration to commence martial law, the police were now in the streets in force, alien sectors and Hab block were on lockdown, and the army had been called in. So now Garrus, his platoon and his entire legion now surrounded a HAb block designated by the local authors as having possibly harbored some of the local resistance.

They were to go door to door, room to room, and find anything and anyone who could be linked to either the rebels or the AOF. Ashley's regiment was one block over, doing the exact same thing to the same type of people. This hab block was mostly miners, hard-working people who just wanted to do their job and not be bothered by the Imperial authorities. But among them were the bad apples, the rebels who made it clear they wanted a war and they wanted it here. People would die today, civilians would die today, and it was all thanks to them. Thousands of soldiers surrounded the block with dozens of armored vehicles patrolling around the encircled peoples. Tracked vehicles shook the ground itself as they patrolled the outskirts of the Hab block, dutifully reminding ghettos inside just what the Empire was willing to do to secure peace. The call would be soon, the operation would begin and people would die, thanks to Shepard.

"All three thirty-fourth assets, commence raid, say again commence raid. Platoon leads radio in if enemy assets are discovered, over."

So this was it.

"You heard him! First squad up!"

His platoon was already in position, breaching gear ready first squad hit the first floor hard and fast. All along the building platoons reenacted the same maneuvers, bursting through the door to peoples home, zip-tying them and then throwing them to the floor and then rummaging through every belonging they had. It was embarrassing to Garrus, to be seen doing such a thing, thankfully his helmet polarized, thankfully they couldn't see his face. He knew he could not, would not match their stares of hate.

He was walking down the central hallway, his squads breaching the rooms on either side of him as they began the grueling task of hitting every home on the way. There were screams as people who had never seen a soldier before locked eyes with the barrel of a gun, others who spewed words of hate for the invaders, calling them every name in the world as they were thrown to the ground. All of them non humans, all of them poor, angry miners who just wanted to be left alone.

Garrus entered behind the third squad as they breached another room, the occupants, two Asari, had been standing behind the door waiting when the soldiers entered.

"Get the fuck down, I said get the fuck down!"

Two stunned to move the Asari were thrown to the ground before a Batarian applied the zip cuffs to their hands. They cried out as he pulled them tight, to be sure they didn't not escape as the troops went about rummaging through the small apartment. Both of the Asari were crying as their livelihood was thrown onto the floor in front of them, from the back there was a shout as somebody discovered something.

"Get the fuck out here, I said get the fuck out here now!"

A wheezing type of breathing was heard before a muffled scream and a flying Volus was suddenly thrown from a back room. The small ball-like creature impacted just beside the two Asari and through its respirator came muffled shouts.

"You can't WHEEZE be doing this WHEEZE where Imperial citizens!"

Garrus had never liked the Volus, not even during his CSEC days, but seeing this one have its home torn apart before him was terrible to say the least.

"Sir, stay down as ordered. There have been rebels reported in this sector and we are searching for any link to them, remain calm and stay down. Squad leader report!"

The Turian Sergeant came out of the backroom.

"Nothing found sir, were good to move on."

"Alright cut these three, we're moving out."

As the Turian sergeant went to cut the bindings an explosion sounded off from down the hall and squad twos NCO came screaming over the net.

"Rebels in room one oh one, four contacts, engaging!"

Gunfire ripped through the Hab floor as garrus filed out of the room and into the hallway. Just two apartments over, three Auxilia were firing into a door frame into an unseen enemy. Yellow tracers returned from inside as an Auxilia tossed a frag grenade in, the soldier took cover out of the doorframe just as the whump of the charge went off, silencing the return fire.

"Breach!"

Three went with weapons already firing, Garrus wasn't far behind bursting through the door frame weapon already drawn. His first sight was of a Turian, female, choking on dust she was picking herself up from behind a couch when she looked toward the door in terror. Her eyes locked with his and then looked to the floor, their a Asari made shotgun was just within reach. Three bodies were already on the floor, half a squad KIA while the three who had already burst in were to his right and left fighting two other Turians in hand to hand combat. She lunged and he fired, the red bolt from his E-11 impacted her shoulder, throwing her body away front he weapon she screamed as he rammed the butt of his E-11 into her face.

"You traitor, may the spirits shame you!"

He didn't let her speak anymore, ramming his buttstock into her face again and again he smashed until nothing but blood and gore remained. With one last yell of anger, hate, and the memories of Shepard still in his mind, he caved in her skull with one last plunge of his weapon. Rising from his crouch, he noted the amount of Turian blood now coating his armor, and how it was dripping off his frame. He looked over his weapon to see that a new dent had embedded itself within its stock, great. Looking around is when he stopped, everyone in the room, his squad, the new rebel prisoners, all of them were staring at what he, a Turian, had just done.

"What the fuck are all of you looking at, call in to control and report the prisoners, we have sectors to clear, move out!"

That broke off any questioning of his acts, only rogers and compliance. Two Turians prisoners were escorted out with vacant looks in their eyes as they looked to their now dead friend, Garrus met each of them, his faceplate shielding himself from the two terrorists in his eyes.

"Control this is Metal six, two POW's inbound to holding cell.."

**Shepard.**

Looking out the view screen of the ship as it took off from the docks he sighed deeply as another fireball went off somewhere in the alien district. He was the reason for this, all of it, and he just fucking watched. He had ordered the massacre, he had attacked his former best friend, he had been the one to not say anything when that terrorist jack said she had a bomb. It was all his fault and he just sat here, and watched. Three LAATs were orbiting overhead, lines of green fire leapt out once in a while, probably cutting some would-be rebel in half. He'd seen the convoys disembark from the assault ship at the docks, the long lines of track vehicles carrying legions worth of troops toward the only place they could let out their anger, the alien district. Funny enough they had used auxilia, aliens themselves, to beat down the aliens. Crazy, that was the word for it, ever since he had first talked to Anderson all that time ago about Adri Prime going silent the entire galaxy had gone fucking crazy.

"Shepard, there you are."

Miranda, great. The AOF intel officer approached beside him and watched as another fireball blew up in a different area of the HAB blocks this time.

"Jack is carrying out her side of the deal I see."

Jack, the terrorist, yeah.

"So this is what you wanted then, Omega to burn, you knew this was going to happen, you knew the Empire would clamp down."

"Yes, and it would be a symbol of defiance across the entire galaxy. A symbol that some still fought back, resisted the Empire as they pushed others into submission. What you see before is being recorded and sent to every extranet server in the galaxy. The council knows what they're doing Shepard, don't question them."

That rubbed him the wrong way.

"And why the hell not, where is the council anyway, what haven't I met them yet?"

"All in due time Shepard, all in due time, for now we're leaving Omega due to well, you."

"Me?"

"Confronting your former teammates has created quite the show on the extranet, one billion hits and counting already."

She showed him her omni tool, the vid had been taken from the second story of the afterlife nightclub. There he was, rushing to meet his once friends in the middle of a massacre, men and women fell left and right, unarmed, as they were gunned down by his men. It zoomed in as he confronted both Garrus and Ashley, their faces taking up the screen as they realized just who it was. The vid captured every emotion across both theirs and his face, the spittle which flew from his mouth, the pure anger cast over his face. All of it, recorded for his viewing pleasure.

"How, who the hell recorded that!"

"Don't know, but their camera skills are impeccable."

Shepard was too angry to note her smile and took to watching as yet another group of LAAT's joined the others.

"Now what the hell…"

His words ended as the doors opened on either side of the craft and began dropping canisters in the center of the district. White and yellow smoke drifted off of them as they fell from the skies and landed among the alien district, Shepard had an idea, a terrible idea, but an idea of just what it was.

"They wouldn't seep that low, they just sent in the fucking army."

"Were getting traffic from the Imperial net, confirmed usage of Gas by the army, all units are holding in their respective sectors. They're going to use the gas to drive the rebels out."

"What kind of gas.."

"I think you know Shepard."

One act, and the entire place went up in flames of war. An act he had committed, to start the fires of revolution and this is what it earned, civilians choking on their own fluids, children dying to choking agents.

"Were leaving Omega, orders from AOF high command are to meet with the third fleet and prepare for our next mission."

"Fleet?"

"Yes, the remnants of the former Citadel navies, the third is known for housing the last Asari dreadnoughts. Good commanders all around, they have fought a delaying action with the empire for years now and gotten quite a few kills under their belts. Nothing larger than a star destroyer, they've been responsible for killing over thirty imperial vessels. We will be rendezvousing with them in the chalka sector before we move on to an outlying star, where we have been sent to meet with a people not seen since before the war."

Unseen since before the war?

"Who would that be?"

Miranda pulled up a picture on her onmi tool and showed Shepard some type of four-eyed bug thing with brown skin.

"What the hell is that?"

"A collector."

**Ashley.**

She hasn't stopped crying her eyes out, not since she had first seen the LAATs fly overhead and drop their deadly cargo, and not since she saw the first victim of those weapons. Her regiment had been sent in twenty minutes after the gas in full protective gear, mask, suits, gloves, everything to protect them from whatever the hell it was the army had just dropped. Her company had been the most forward element as they breached the former rebel lines, where just twenty minutes ago they had been under heavy fire from all manner of weapons, now there was nothing but silence. The silence of the dead, their bodies laid over their weapons, bunkers, and fighting positions.

She;d been speaking to her battalion commander, his voice informing her of her new orders when her foot smashed something beneath her boots. She slipped on something liquid and fell, her hands catching her as she fell face-first into a corpse. It was Asari, or a former Asari now judging by the lesions and boils which covered its skin from head to toe. Its head popped had been peeled back like the skin of a grape, exploring the skull underneath its head poured out a fine yellow liquid which was busy dissolving the skin and bone right before her eyes.

Of course, she screamed, pulling herself up as quickly as possible. She began sliding any and all contamination she could off herself as she saw the forer Asari turn to paste. Her troops had asked if she was ok and of course she responded with yes, but deep down, in her thoughts, she was fucking terrified. Not even the Geth, the reapers, or anyone else she had ever fought or seen had used chemical weapons which literally ate living tissue. This was disgusting, evil incarnate, and here she was to clean up what was left of this mess.

"All Sierra elements, report any living over, command wants POWs for interrogation over."

POWs, in this, please. Everyone was dead, no survivors, and this entire block would forever carry the stink of the dead. So, silently beneath her mask, Ash cried, she cried for the reason this had all begun, why the revolution had been sparked, she cried for Shepard. She still couldn't get over his return, how real he looked, how he was him. Her former commanding officer, in the flesh, had returned and he had tried to kill her. No doubt she had it coming, considering she had shot him in the face but it had been survival, him or her, and she was not willing to die. Three years of thinking he had been dead, only for him to return.

"COC, possible POWs in section three alpha, requesting command presence."

That was her que.

"Rog COC on the way, TOT two minutes."

First platoon had found something and if it needed her their then it was something important. Making her way through blocks of dead, bunkers, and decaying corpses, she ascended two stairways before coming to the center of the entire Hab block. Here was where the ISB had concluded the center of defiance would be, where enemy leadership would have resided. The amount of dead fighters climbed with every step, the equipment becoming more professional, the armor getting more and more expensive as she came closer to the rebel command center.

In the center of the hall was a massive pile of sandbags surrounding the center of the hab. Around it were at least a hundred bodies in various states of decay, with every race possibly represented among the dead save for Quarians and Volus. Her men, Imperial soldiers in full protective gear, were busy surrounding a blue bubble of all things with weapons drawn. There she could hear her LT yelling orders to someone who was not responding. She was making her way through the ring of soldiers as she began to hear his voice.

"Now listen here you bald fuck, drop the shield or were just going to let you choke to death like the rest of your kind, you fucking hear me!"

Passing through into the center, she took in the scene before her with a razed brow. It was a massive mass effect field created by a powerful biotic directly in the center of it all. She was bald, wearing almost nothing, and sporting a face of pain as she continued to hold the shield around them. Beside her were two dozen civilians and other military personnel. Rebels then, all of them around and armed they had their weapons raised on the Imperials who surrounded their protective shield.

"Did you not hear me rebel, I said-"

"That's enough lieutenant"

The lieutenant reared back toward the speaker and upon seeing her dual captains bars nodded before falling back. This was to be her show, the ISB wanted prisoners and she would send them. She counted the human controlling the shield, eight batarians, four Asari, seven Turians, three Volus, and a Quarian hiding behind a Krogan in the center. All of them looked scared out of their minds and all of them pointed all manner of weapons at her.

"I am Captain Ashley Williams, Nine seventy-fifth Coruscant Regiment, who is in command here?"

The rebels all looked out for each other, before all looking toward the human woman holding the shield together. Through gritted teeth, the woman spoke as blood slowly began to slide out of her nose.

"I AM!"

Internally Ashley activated her omni tool and began recording live for the ISB nerds who were no doubt zeroing in on her location.

"Good then, as an officer I request your surrender so no one else has to die today."

She laughed, she laughed as if it was a joke before redoubling her efforts in holding the shield.

"You Imperials think you've won, taken our homes from us! Well, FUCK YOU!"

The shield exploded outwards in a flash of biotic power, sweeping the Imperials away as it expanded outwards and covered the entire room. With a sound of hissing, it burned away the corruption that the chemical weapons were as it finished itself on the doors and walls of the commons. Ashley was thrown bodily more than ten feet, coming to a stop atop a corpse of decay as she recovered as quickly as she could. Already the rebels were firing, and the biotic was making short work of her men.

"Fuck you! I'm the psychotic biotic for a reason bitch!"

With one hand she gripped the throat of an Imperial soldier, with the other she sent a throw at a fireteam.

"Freedom! Death to the Empire!"

She said as she pulled a knife and shoved it between the plate of the soldier's armor, and the soft flesh underneath. He cried out, his respirator adding a sharpness to his screams as she disemboweled the man before throwing him away like a plaything. Ash decided at that second, as she watched the soldier's body smack into the ground and spill his intestines onto the floor, that she was going to personally kill this bitch.

"Men, kill them all!"

She screamed into the net as she opened fire on full auto into the remnants of the once boastful rebellion. With only meters separating the two sides it was not going to take long, this would be a short, bloody fight, between a platoon of the Imperial army and the last holdouts of a so-called rebellion. Red laser fire was traded with all manner of colored tracers, fist, knives, and buttstocks were traded as the two sides met up close. The Krogan bull-rushed an entire squad, smashing them to bits as his plates were scorched, killing the last as he finally fell, his body smoking as it hit the ground.

An Asari was blown limb from limb as multiple blasts hit her torso, a Batarian went down with a single shot to his four-eyed face, two turians died holding each other, and in it all the bitch still lived. She was in the center of it all, watching as her men dwindled before her eyes in seconds, yes, Ash was going to get her chance. Putting her crosshairs on the bald bitches head, she watched as those mascara covered eyes suddenly turned to her and zeroed in full of hatred.

"Your mine whore!"

Ash had just pulled the trigger, sending two shots at the biotic when suddenly she was gone, and in the next second right in front of her. A biotic charge, Ash should have seen it coming, the terrorist was right in her face pushing her barrel away in a second. Ash dropped the E-11, going for her fist as the baldy went for a slash with a crude shiv. The blade slashed across Ash's forearm, drawing blood from her right arm, Ash recoiled with the left and sending a blinding punch across the woman's jaw. With a snap, the rebels head snapped to the side in pain, as she began rippling with biotic power. Ash had to act fast, or she was going to die to this bitch. So with all her weight behind her feet, she tackled the biotic human.

The tendrils of power stopped, their heat covered flames ceasing as the biotic was thrown into the ground. Using her helmet, she began to slam her NVG mount into the rebels face, each smack earning a scream of pain as her face went from a dirt-covered grime to a bloody mess with each successive schwack. After the fourth hit Ash stopped, the rebel's face was like hamburger, dent visible from where the metal mount had made their impact. The jaws, cheekbones, and none were all visibly broken, and the rebel was crying through blackened eyes, she would not be getting back up.

Pushing herself off the ground, using the body of the rebel as a support, she rose to find her men having already dealt with the rest. Two Turians, an Asari, and a single Quarian sat quivering in fear as the Imperial soldiers cuffed their hands and prepared them for the ISB. She counted eight green camouflage Imperials among the dead, too goddamn many.


	25. New allies

**13th Police precinct, Omega station February 6th, 2335.**

"Subject jack, no last name given, date February 6th, 2335. Imperial police lieutenant Gun Vruask attending."

He was in his element once more, to be here, torturing another suspect who would in time aid his cause, it was just so exhilarating. He had watched this one from afar for quite some time, seeing her transform from a lowly drug runner to the seasoned killer she was today, it was glorious. Oh, the powers did look upon this one in all their glory, how the shroud beckoned around her, he felt drunk in her presence but he couldn't show it here, not now.

For years he had been on this station, watching in the shadows as he played the long game in taking out any real opposition. Loyalist Imperials, Harcore soldiers, all of them would somehow be shunted off toward the most dangerous districts where they would usually end up dead and no longer his problem in the long run. This one, this jack, she had only made his life easier as she killed off his competition faster and faster. A leak here, a misuse of information there, and the opponents of his future regime would be no more. This station, some eight million people would make a fine sacrifice to the shroud, a beacon for which the powers would channel their energy and bring themselves into this galaxy anew.

Yes, and all of it started with this simple creature before him. A broken girl, raised to be a killer and fulfilling that role quite nicely He would have to teach her the ways of the shroud, why it was holy, and the other word like beings who called it home in the great beyond. It all had to start somewhere though, and right now, looking upon the slobbering, biting, and all-around unpleasant mess before him, he knew he was going to have to work with this one.

"Fuck you fascist pig, ill cut out your fucking throat and shit in it!"

Yes, she would take some work.

**Omega station, February 7th, 2335**

Mop up operations had gone on for two days now, weeding out those rebels who had escaped or dug in too deep even for the chem's to kill. Garrus's platoon had been hard-charging as they took down those who spoke ill towards the Empire, those who would dare resist. He'd lost count of how many people he had killed after the second day, two dozen at least, all former citizens turned traitor and all with little to no training. Like shooting fish in a barrel, he thought as he pulled his bayonet free from an Asari's scalp.

It was times like this when the battle was so close that it resorted to hand to hand that he felt the exhilaration from war. A "battle high" had been what the clones had called, a need for war, a need to kill, all of it due to just how long they had served the Empire. Where others would burn out they would strive, hoping for the next war, giddy for the next sound of men screaming and dying. They spoke of it overtaking them sometimes, casting aside their usual cool and collected selves. They devolved into monsters in hand to hand combat as they brutally killed anything before them. He'd heard stories of clones using knives to carve things to pieces, others bashing their weapon over the head of others till it broke, and others just stomping, punching, and thrashing an enemy until they were nothing but blood. Battle high, how good it felt pulling his blade out and firing off a burst toward a group of fleeing Batarians.

"All three thirty-four elements hold, navies deploying another wave of gas ahead of us, prepare for a gas attack."

The gas, it had been used a dozen times already and now another as a stagnant line of defense would be made by these would-be rebels. Idiots all of them, standing in the open behind burned-out air cars and trash they piled in the street. They would all die to the gas, their flesh boiling away as the Auxilia marched proudly through their "defenses". He'd seen better defenses in the other galaxy, from races that knew how to put up a fight, in retrospect this was nothing. Putting on his mask he clicked the turian shaped object into place as two LAAT's flew overhead. Green fumes spewed out the back, like aerosolized death it drifted toward the ground as the screams of the defenders began.

They knew what it was, they had watched their friends in the alien habs die to it and they knew what was coming. None would survive, men, women, children, they would all die as they cried to the heavens in despair. Sometimes, when he looked to the screaming horizon, he would say a prayer to the spirits, a prayer to those who stood in the way of his Empire. But only sometimes, when the time was right and his men were not dying. But not now, not on Omega, here they would all die, feeling the pocket on the front of his vest he heard the clink of three dog tags as they struck together again. They would all die, for his men.

**One day later.**

The three thirty-fourth had been put back on their ships and rocketed away from the still-smoldering station. Another battle already calling them, another war to fight. Ashleys Regiment, the nine seventy-fifth was right beside them and under the same orders. A planet in the former Asari territories had gone rebel, their alien population rising up against their Imperial masters and wishing to be free of the Empires rightful rule. They would be shown the error of their ways, as the skies blackened with orbital bombardment and the heavens themselves rained the drop pods and gunships of the army. Another world to add to his already long roster, another place to never think about again, great.

"Lieutenant Vakarian, report to Legion headquarters, Say again Lieutenant Vakarian report to legion headquarters."

Getting up off the ammo crate he'd been lounging on, he gave a quick word to his Sergeants before making his way to HQ. Getting called directly from the ships comms was something that hyped up his senses, just for how rare it was. On a ship carrying tens of thousands, to be signaled out personally was almost unheard of. So it was now, moving through the decks of the acclamator class assault ship, that Garrus began to get more and more nervous with every step. As he made his way toward the HQ element he began to see less and less aliens and more and more humans. Clones, sailors, and the occasional soldier all gave him looks as he entered halls whose usual occupants were entirely human.

The door to legion headquarters keyed as he entered, outside two clones stood at ease as he entered, snapping to attention as they noticed his officer bars. Inside was nothing but holo tables, maps of who knows what, and a hell of a lot of clones and other Imperial officers currently shouting about something. His company commander was the first to

notice him, waving a hand for him to come over. Garrus followed him into a back office where two other clones were standing outside at rigid attention ready to go at a moment notice. Garrus was able to see the nameplate on the outside of the room just as he entered.

CT-77777T 334TH LEGION COMMANDER.

Fuck. He snapped to attention as soon as he saw the rank on the man's chest as the door closed behind them. Four other officers, all battalion commander and above stood behind the legion commander. Each of them had their helmets off, showing their face to Garrus, a sign of respect from the clones meaning they saw him as a brother, as an equal. The clone pauldrons he currently wore probably helped in that regard.

"At ease Lieutenant Vakarian."

He relaxed but only slightly, still unaware of just what type of clone he was. CT-77777T began going over documents on his desk, an odd form here or there catching his eye as he looked Garrus over from time to time. For what felt like hours but was only, in reality, a couple of minutes, the legion commander looked up from the stack and appraised garrus personally.

"Vakarian, for three years you have served the legion faithfully on several worlds. You have fought from the rank of corporal to an Imperial officer, which is commendable, your battlefield reports state brave and courageous actions on several occasions. To put it frankly, you are a superior example of what an Imperial officer should look like."

Something big was coming, he could feel it in his plates, something earth-shattering, news most like it was about to hit him. Was he being released? Kicked out? Please no!

"So you may not know this, but recently the Empire has made a deal with the Krogan. A deal for shock troops, an entire company of Krogan ready and able to act as the breaching forces for every Auxilia legion. One hundred of the angry toads are currently being transferred to the ship and they will be attached to the first battalion as a new company, Fox company. This new company requires leadership due to the fact HIGH COM will not trust Krogan to lead themselves. Now here comes the issue, I do not have enough clone officers to command a company, not even a platoon. So I am tasked with taking leadership from the alien population to fill these gaps.

This is where you come in Vakarian, I need a leader, a mover of men, who can whip these Krogan into shape and ensure they are not a liability to the legion. I need someone who can lead an entire company into battle and win, and that is why I requested you."

Him for company command? What had the galaxy come too! An entire company of Krogan, all under his command, he could only guess the possibilities this would entail.

"So, you are hereby promoted to the rank of captain and given all the responsibilities that come with that rank. You may call upon other auxilia you know in the legion and requisition lieutenant's for your platoons. It is a mighty weight to bear, the weight of one hundred people now rests on your shoulders, do you feel yourself up to the task?"

As he asked the question the legion commander handed over the new rank plaque, Garrus stared at it, slack-jawed as he pulled it off the desk and held it up to his armor. Company commander, Captain Vakarian, had a ring to it.

"Yes Sir, I will command Fox company to the best of my ability, we will not fail you, sir."

"Good, Your company is awaiting you in hanger three. Go have a chat."

"Yes sir."

**Hanger three.**

Garrus entered the hanger to absolute silence, passing by three parked LAATs, he wouldn't have known there were a hundred Krogfan in parade formation until he laid his eyes upon them. As he turned the corner, a single Krogan in green armor with sergeant stripes bellowed out an order.

"Company, attention!"

One hundred bodies snapped together, sending a thunderclap across the mostly empty hanger. Garrus put on his best game face as he walked to the front of his platoons, already he could see the eyes, the stares of those sizing him up. One of them being the green armored sergeant, he looked a lot like Wrex from the old days but then again, most Krogan looked the same to him. The Krogan looked him up and down, sizing him up until those lizard-like pupils fell on the clone pauldrons on either side of Garrus's frame. White armor, blackened with soot, with an orange and blue line going down the center, the sign of an Auxilia officer.

Garrus stepped in front of the Sergeant whose eyes moved to stare straight ahead as he now looked over the Krogan's armor and equipment. Green armor, covered in scrapes and cracks, equipment consisting of various heat sink pouches, grenade pouches, and a large blade which stood out in a scabbard. This would not do, they would need new equipment to be effective, new gear to make them better warriors, they would need to adapt to the new ways of war and do away with the past.

Garrus left the Krogan and began pacing in front of them all, taking careful looks at those who wore stripes and those who did not. He saw all manner of armor among them, blood pack mercs, clan markings, all of it nonstandard and all of it not up to Imperial standards, this would be changing. Returning to the green armored Krogan in the center he kept his voice low as he gave his order, careful to make sure only this one could hear.

"Your name Sergeant."

"Sergeant Urdnot Wreav sir."

"Of Clan Urdnot? Do you know Wrex then?"

"Yes Sir, he is my half brother."

"Really? Shit, return to your platoon."

The Krogan saluted before moving off. Now it was only Garrus, a single turian standing before a hundred Krogan.

"Fox Company of the first battalion, I am to understand you are all shinies, pups compared to the rest of the real warriors here."

That made a few snorts in contempt, others glared with yellow eyes, good, they were angry.

"In the coming days, I will train all of you to become the soldiers that the empire needs, what the empire wants. You will become true Imperial servants as we cross the void toward our newest war. The Empire calls, and they will not be found wanting from a single one of you, am I understood!"

"YES SIR!"

It would have shaken the walls if they weren't steel. Now he had to pick leaders for these platoons, good officers which would allow him the maneuverability he needed for this unit. Yes, he had work to do.

**Shepard, February 9th, 2185 3rd AOF Fleet.**

Before his untimely death at the hands of a friend, he had seen plenty of alliance and citadel fleets as they crossed the void. The sleek vessels of the alliance, the octopod shaped ships of the Asari, the bird-like wings of the Turian navy, all of them the most powerful ships in the entirety of the universe. They had guarded the citadel for over a thousand years, won wars hundreds of years in the making, and ensured peace and security for a galaxy full of strife. But that had been in their hay day, when spare parts, spare men, and spare supplies were abundant and they had nations that supported any war they were sent too.

What he looked on now, out here in the deepest parts of a forgotten relay, was a far cry from those once earth-shattering fleets. A former alliance cruiser went by the observation window, its blue paint peeling, he could barely make out its name as its blue engines thundered on by.

SSV LONDON.

The letters themselves were eroding just like the ship they were painted upon. He could see cracks in the engine housing even from here. The main guns, the broadside guns, and even the laser defense array all showed signs of heavy use with black soot marking all of them. Even the dropship bay looked like it hadn't seen drydock in years, the blue mass effect fields kept in the atmosphere shuddering once in a while, making the void suit equipped personnel inside look up once in a while.

Oh, how the mighty had fallen, but this was every ship in the supposed third fleet, all ramshackle relics taken from the last war and kept up to speed. It reminded him of the Quarian flotilla in a lot of ways, from the picture he had seen that Tali had shown him, it could have been mistaken for the once migrant people. Fitting in a way, for the council to be the migrant species now while the Quarians finally had a real home. It was Imperial in nature but they had a home. He wondered where Tali was now, did she die in the war? Was she a traitor like Garrus to the Empire? Her father had been an important Admiral, and the Quarians were now fully under the thumb of the Empire so, who knew.

He was here to be a part of the council's ambassador team, individuals who had shown great diplomatic skill in the past when dealing with tense situations. Situations that could devolve into violence, so they had called for spectres, all the spectres that were left. And to guard them as they met with the shyest species in the galaxy was a fleet of warships capable of leveling an entire planet. Three dreadnoughts, forty-eight cruisers, one hundred frigates of varying type, and even two carriers, both former alliances. A fleet indeed, if anyone wanted a fight, even the Empire, then they would have one.

It was then that the door behind him opened and the click of boots on metal sounded through the small observation room.

"It's been a long time Shepard."

That voice, he hadn't heard it in over three years, not since he had defeated Saren. Turning towards the doorway, Shepard eyes looked onto a man who had once commanded an entire alliance fleet, a man who had retaken the Citadel, a man who had defeated Sovereign. Admiral Steven Hackett, he looked a lot older now with his hair entirely gray, he had new scars too, burns that went down his face and into his shirt but there he was in the flesh.

"Admiral Hackett, sir!"

Shepard saluted to which the admiralty returned the gesture.

"At ease son, we brought you back from the brink, and from what I've heard you've been able to give the enemy a bloody nose."

"Yes sir, Omega was a bloodbath."

Hackett took up beside him in the window, watching as another cruiser went on by.

"Shepard, I won't lie to you, these three years have been hell. Defeat after defeat, the fall of the Citadel, hell the fall of Earth, all of it something i wouldn't have thought in a million years. It took every move I had to convince the council to bring you back, untold resources went into remaking you into what we needed in times like this, we needed a hero, are you going to deliver?"

He could feel the weight the aging admiral had just put on his shoulders, was he really worth this much?

"I will sure as hell try sir."

"In the last days of the war I commanded what was left of the fifth as the earth fell, you should have seen it."

Hackett's mind went back three years, back to those dark days, of a time where everything hung in the balance and they all failed.

**Earth, May 1st, 2183 5th Fleet command ship SSV Everest**

Hackett was reading over the latest reports from the ground and none of it was looking good. Cities in unrest, massive mobs of people taking out their anger on anything which bore the symbol of the alliance, people getting hacked to death in the streets. And all the meanwhile, those soldiers still sat in defensive positions, awaiting the coming of the Empire. Tens of millions of them occupied the surface of the Earth, from Antarctica to the north pole, they would defend the birthplace of humanity with their lives if that's what it took.

Next to them were the orbital defense guns, rings of mass effect powered cannons that ringed the planet itself in the hundreds. What had once been a proposal after the first contact war was now a reality, and all it took was an enemy so massive that it puzzled the mind. He would have thought it would have been the Reapers who would be invading earth, shattering the world and enslaving the population. But here he was, facing off against human adversaries from an Empire no one would have thought possible. So far his fleet had tallied up five kills as they conducted a retreating fight from the outer colonies, to the inner colonies, and to the very homeworld itself. Five star destroyers of the smaller Venator class, caught by themselves it hadn't been all that hard to take down the dreadnought sized ships, save for a dozen frigates, four cruisers, and one of the last human dreadnoughts. Thousands upon thousands of sailors died in the void, for five fucking ships.

Looking over the fleet roster for what was left of humanity's navy he sighed, to see the mighty fall. Pre-war the human navy had been the up and coming galaxy power with how many cruisers, dreadnoughts, frigates, and carriers it could field across a variety of systems. The proud ships could be seen from the terminus to citadel space, their white and blue camo scheme marking them as proud vessels of humanities space-faring navy.

Now, looking over what was left his heart ached. Two dreadnoughts, forty cruisers, one hundred and three frigates, two of those being of Normandy class, and a hundred corvettes. That was all that was left, all that could stand in front of the Empire and proudly defy the juggernaut which had already destroyed half the known galaxy. They were the last, the last species to not submit, the last species to not fall. The Asari had been first, then the Salarians, and finally the Turians, the most powerful navy in the entire galaxy stamped out of existence. The Batarians for all their supposed military might had fallen in less than a week by themselves, Khar'Shan having been cracked by the so-called Colossus.

"Sir magnetic readings from bearing two seven three, vectoring pickets now!"

So this was it, the last to fall, the last to defy the so-called Empire.

"Alert the fleets, I want all hands on deck and weapons condition red. As soon as we see the first signs of any Imperial ships I want corvettes and frigates running attack runs, cruisers readying up in wolf pack formations, and dreadnought and carriers prepping mass drivers."

Sweat began to trickle down his back as fleets prepared themselves throughout the solar system. His strategy was simple but effective for anything star destroyer class and below. Using frigates and corvettes he would run attacks at lightning speeds, harassing the ships CIWS and medium-sized guns while cruisers would begin firing in packs, shearing off pieces of any ship in range. If it was anything larger than the two dreadnoughts, his proverbial fist, would then fire from long range and take out the engines, allowing the cruisers to finish off whatever was left. It had worked before, and it would work now, he hoped.

Screens began showing incoming magnetic readings, and a lot of them.

"Count is fifty so far and rising, all reading show Star destroyer class and above with cruisers and below sprinkled in, identifying targets as Imperial fleet one."

Fifty-star destroyers, fuck. They'd taken down five by themselves, fifty, well.

"Magnetic readings coming in from bearing one three three, fifty plus, wait, seventy, one hundred plus identified all-star destroyer class and above."

In front, behind, they were trapped due to the limits of their FTL and they had no choice, they were here to fight and die, nothing more.

"Sir incoming call from, sir its General baker."

General Baker was the commanding officer of all ground-based Alliance units in the system. Marines, army, naval special warfare to include all Ns, he had it all, so him calling now was not a good sign. Hackett keyed the call, mindful to keep it on low to make sure only he could hear.

"General Baker, Admiral Hackett."

"Steven, there here."

His voice sounded gruff, like he was in pain, under duress.

"What do you mean there here? We see there ships coming in-"

"Admiral Hackett."

That was not Baker's voice, only one person, or should he say one engineered type of person had that voice and they were no friend of him.

"Clone."

"Admiral this is CC-99368-"

"I don't give a fuck about your designation clone, what do you want."

"Admiral, we're requesting your surrender. Earth will not burn, the cradle of humanity will not feel the fires of war if you surrender, sir."

Hackett knew Baker's exact position, he knew exactly where to place a shot to end this engineered monstrosity here and now.

"Admiral, this war can end today, and right now it depends on you and your fleet. We will be waiting."

The line ended and Hackett was left with his thoughts. With the orbital guns and the fleet, he could hold out for maybe, an hour. After that it would all be over, the planet would be invaded and the bloodshed would begin. An hour, in exchange for thousands of lives, was it worth it?

"Sir, third group designating Imperial fleet three closing in from bearing two two seven, on hundred plus-"

"Open a comm line to all ships."

"Yes sir!"

They would not be winning this war, not in an open battle against a far superior enemy. He had heard the council had gone to round with whatever they had left, if they could do the same then he would conduct a guerilla war and bleed them that way.

"All ships of the proud alliance navy, hear this."

His voice would be sent to every ship in the fleet, every sailor stopping whatever they were doing to listen to their proud commanding officer.

"Sailors and marines, you have fought and bled the good fight. For these past months, you have all fought bravely in the face of an unending fight and in days past, I would have put all of you in for medals."

He let it sink in, letting them know just how proud he was of them all.

"But those days are gone, now we must fight on our terms, on the battlefields that we deem necessary. That is why now I call upon all of you to decide for yourselves rather than order, my ship will be heading for the mass relay to escape. To escape and regroup with those who have survived this war, so that we may continue the dream, a dream of a galaxy not ruled by an extragalactic empire but rather ourselves. I beg all of you now, from the highest-ranking officers to the lowest enlisted among all of you, decide your own fate, for the alliance, for the Citadel."

He keyed off the mic and slumped into his chair, how many years had he devoted himself to defending the great blue and green rock in front of him, only to retreat when the time came. Here he was, a decorated officer, falling back in the face of his adversary.

"Sir?"

The shaky voice of his comms operator interrupted his own thoughts as the engines began propelling the dreadnought toward the relay.

"I'm getting the roster in now, sixty percent of the fleet is following, the rest, the rest is confirming they will die for the earth."

Sixty percent, tens of thousands of people running toward the relay, it was the first battle all over again.

**Present. **

Shepard couldn't believe it, too see his mentor so at lost for words as he described what it was like to lose his people's homeworld, it was unspeakable.

"We lost, ran, and found our way to what was left. As you can see, spare parts and men have been hard to come by but we do what we can."

"Sir you did everything you could and that's what matters, your decision had now given us the ability to continue the fight."

"I know, trust me, three years we've been fighting the Imperial navy and we've learned, become accustomed to their tactics. If I had the ships, hell the numbers from back then, we would have beaten the bastards back to that portal in space and been done with them."

Another cruiser began flying by, a Salarian model this time, it showed the same signs of overuse as the former alliance ship.

"We'll get them back, maybe not today or even tomorrow, but one day I swear to god I'll see the proud alliance blue flying over Earth."

"One day sir, one day."

Their reverie was broken as both of their omni tools lit up with an incoming message from Miranda.

"Sirs, the Collectors ship has just entered the system, we request yourself and Shepard to the shuttle bay."

Hackett gave a look to Shepard who gave a nod back before he spoke.

"Alright, we'll be there in a minute."

**Shuttle 33E, en route to designated meeting ship MSV Eduror**

It was Shepard, Miranda, the team of Ns and two Asari who would be meeting face to face with the collectors, the most mysterious race in his galaxy. Four-eyed bugs all of them, they had arrived in a literal flying rock shaped like a cigar. He hadn't gotten to hear them over the radio just yet so his first impression was going to be just that, his first glimpse into the eyes of a new alien race. Well, "new" in the sense they were not part of the Citadel, and hadn't been seen since the Empire had shown up.

Three shuttles were being sent alongside them housing their actual security detail, an entire platoon of Marines beside the two fighter squadrons currently running escort in case of any attack. The three shuttles would be landing in an old decommissioned freighters shuttle bay where the meeting would be taking place in the vacuum of the hanger. The collectors had agreed to all of this, stating that they would be just fine in a vacuum. This had puzzled AOF leaders, but they had just gone along with it just fine.

"Shepard, just so you're aware I followed through on some leads after our tour of Omega. I've sent Lieutenant Vakarian and Captain Williams Imperial files to your Omni tool."

That made his emotions run, just the thought of Omega in general would send him into spirals of anger now. Seeing those two, wearing those damned symbols like they were proud, it sickened him. But, he might as well know his former friends now enemies once again and find out just what they had done. He picked Garrus first, considering he was his former best friend.

Lieutenant Vakarian, Garrus (Turian)

334th Adri Prime Auxilia Legion

1st Platoon CO, Alpha Company, 1st Bn, 334th

Record, February 4th, 2335.

Years of service: 3

Years of active combat: 3

Combat tour to worlds: 17

Worlds to include:

Ul (Uish world)

Bin (Uish world)

T'kan (Uish world)

Qk'tark (Uish world)

PRESS HERE FOR ADDITIONAL

Record of award:

Alien service medal

Imperial star with bronze oak leaves

Soldiers medal with crossed rifles

Service to the Emperor medal

End reward log.

Vakarian, Garrus has been forwarded by his commanding officers for promotion to Captain due to gallant service to the Empire.

REQUEST FOR SECTION EIGHT.

What did that mean?

Request for section eight?

And what the fuck was an Uish?

"Miranda?"

"Yes, Commander?"

"Bottom of Garrus's record it says request for section eight? What does that mean?"

"Section eight is part of the Imperial advanced research and weapon development division, responsible for building all of the cruel and disgusting weapons we see on the battlefield. One example is the gas used on Omega."

'Why the hell would they want Garrus then…"

"Boarding team this is your pilot speaking."

Another Batarian pilot, the last one didn't turn out too well.

"We will be landing in the hangar in two minutes, T minus two minutes, prepare for the void."

Slapping on his helmet, Shepard checked the seal to make sure it was airtight before standing up and making for the door. First impressions, they were everything, right? Two minutes went by like they were nothing, slowly the shuttle lost speed before stopping and thumping onto the deck.

"We have arrived, all passengers please be aware of possible-"

Shepard didn't listen to any more of the pilot's ramblings, slamming the door release he was greeted with the blackness of the shuttle bay before the ship's lights came online and highlighted his newest acquaintance.

"SHEPARD."

There were five of them, all brown hide and glowing eyes, the collectors. He was breathless as he noted their features, the way they held their bug-like wings at their back, how four of the cradled weapons that looked like they were alive. They had come in a ship that looked to be made of the same rock and living material blend, also cigar shape. Miranda, the Ns, and the two asari followed behind as he moved before the five collectors and took a closer inspection. Up and down, up and down, his eyes went before they landed on the four eyes of the collector. Here goes nothing.

"Commander John Shepard, Army of Freedom special forces."

He thrust out his hand for a shake, the collector taking its time as its head coked sideways before it looked back to Shepard.

"We do not need semantics, we called you here for one purpose. We require your support against the Empire."

Straight to the point then, pulling his hand away he took a power stance with his hands on his hips as he stared right back at the alien.

"The AOF can't just throw ships and men willy nilly, if you want support in fighting the Empire we're going to need a real target and a real alliance before anything happens."

As he had been told before, give nothing without getting anything in return. They needed materials, supplies, dockyards, and judging by those ships they had one.

"We have the location of an Imperial Dyson sphere."

What the shit, a Dyson sphere, that was a thing? Shepard turned to look at Miranda's eye lenses to see her eyes wide as saucers as she brought up her omnitool.

"They have a Dyson sphere? Where, and how did they bring it to our galaxy?"

The collector pulled out an omni tool like the device of his own and projected a holographic version of the structure in question. It was massive in scale, covering an entire red giant in metal, the structure must have taken decades to build, but that begged the question, how was it here?

"The Empire, with the usage of dark energy, was able to move a dozen of these structures within this galaxy. These platforms now power dozens of planets and shipyards with the energy needed to continue their war effort, crippling just one of these stations would spell doom for those worlds, allowing the AOF an in."

"And you're telling us this why? Why have you just now left the Omega four relay, why are you really here?"

The bug did not respond, its wings moved slightly at its back as it heads cocked from side to side before it answered.

"It has become apparent the former rulers of this galaxy are no longer in control, the masters of this domain must once more administer a balance to the status quo. The Empire must be defeated in the grand scheme of galactic events, nothing can transpire before then."

"So you are just willing to share the location of one of these star-sized power plants then?"

"Yes."

Shepard knew there was something else at play here, the small tickle at the back of his mind confirming this but he, for now, would play along.

"Say we help you, what would you bring to the table during the attack on one of these installations?"

"We have four dreadnought sized vessels capable of reaching the site, along with forty thousand troops. We are more than capable of staging an attack alongside the forces of the AOF."

Goddam, that was quite a bit, and enough to seal an alliance between the two powers.

"Alright I'll bite, what is the location of the Dyson sphere?"

The collector's projection changed to a galactic view, narrowing down until a system on the northwestern edge of form Asari space was highlighted.

"The Yuk nebula houses the station, there you will find four-star destroyers guarding it at all times alongside three legions of Imperial clones. Twenty thousand workers currently occupy the station at all times, with ships coming in and out to either charge or convoy the power away. We must bring an end to this station to further our goals."

Thirty thousand clones, four-star destroyers, twenty thousand civies, a lot of people were going to die but they were Imperials, so not really people.

"Anything that brings harm to the Empire is a-okay in my book, Miranda exchange details with our collector friend here, we have a date with destiny."

And with that Shepard turned back to the shuttle, yes he would bring the war home to the Empire, he would make sure they would never forget this.


	26. Death of a star

**February 15th, 2332 Dyson Sphere site 27 Deep Asari space**

All was calm out here in the darkest areas of space, where no one, save for the owners of this gargantuan station dared to tread. Every day, a dozen of the massive twenty-kilometer long bulk energy transfer ships would enter and leave the star encapsulating station carrying the very lifeblood of an Empire. Energy was needed for everything imaginable when it came to the livelihood of sentient beings. From production, power, heating, cooling, vehicle travel and basic amenities, energy was the life source of an Empire that spanned almost two thousand five hundred planets.

Trillions of people, man or alien, depended on stations just like these all across the Empire for their planet's daily energy usage. The bulk containers ships, whose very size could eclipse continents, were a daily occurrence all across the travel lanes and supply routes which kept this massive machine running at peak efficiency. Gone were the days of fossil fuels, their choking emissions clogging the very air with which these people breathed, now replaced with battery banks refueled when needed by the power provided by this very station. Site two seven was responsible for twenty Asari worlds, twelve of those being of forge world-class, whose responsibility was the production of war materials that were then sent across the portal.

Countless regiments, legions, and entire fleets depended on the supplies and material constructed by the blue-skinned alien race who had once ruled this galaxy. Those days of supremacy from both the technological, governmental, and cultural levels, were now gone, replaced with the blood-red flag and superiority of the human race. The Empire now ruled these stars, with fleets, task forces, and armies stationed and garrisoned on these worlds for the sole purpose of making sure they met their quotas.

Now to an outside viewer this garrison duty would be viewed with contempt, a waste of good soldiers and ships who should have been on the frontline on the other side of the two galaxies. But if the Empire was anything, it was efficient, and it understood that troops needed R and R away from the battlefield, and what better place to make it then a dozen forge worlds.

The INV Galience of Devan had seen her fair share of void combat in the last four years, having been with the fifty-seventh fleet in the northern reaches, she had fought the T45s beside hundreds of other Imperial ships. The bravery of her crew had been shown as they earned three-ship kills in the myriad of small campaigns against the machines and thus earned themselves a peaceful posting for a two year time. Now she was a part of the three hundred and eighth security flotilla, the Victory-class star destroyer coupled with three others of the same make acting as the primary naval support for a Dyson sphere energy site.

Captain Michael Tuf was a seasoned void commander, having fought in no less than a dozen campaigns on this very ship, he had earned his command through courage and zealotry on the battlefield. At the ripe old age of forty-three, he had come up from a lowly ensign and earned his promotions as he scaled the ranks in a normal amount of time until he gained his first capital ship command. The Devan was a good ship, with her turbolaser batteries and concussion missiles, she was a mean bitch when it came to fighting the perfidious xenos of the void. So many times he had seen this ship's guns burn away the enemy in glowing displays of heat rocked metal, it was glorious, to say the least.

With the seasoned crew he wished, no he dared anyone to come for this station harboring ill will just so he could get another chance in showing the galaxy what happened when you fucked with the Imperial Navy. Of course, there were pirates here and there, small bands of idiots who would sometimes warrant the deployment of a star destroyer or two but in reality, this posting was boring. Circle the same station, patrol the same blackness of space, there were no planets or asteroids to speak of out here, only the small glimpses of light peeking out from the star encapsulating machinery which harbored the lifeblood of the Empire. Just space, empty, filled with nothing, space. His watch officer's voice broke him out of his bored reverie.

"Captain, we are receiving FTL signatures bearing three two zero."

**AOFNV Matriarchs Deliverance**

The fleet, a combined mass of over one hundred and four ships exited the blue corona of mass effect powered FTL In dazzling displays of light and power. Having jumped so close to the orbiting security detachment there was no need for orders, no need for the go-ahead, only the vengeance of a people who called for blood. In twenty seconds fifty-four ships had fired every weapon they had toward the four-star destroyers, frigates, cruisers, the almighty dreadnought, all threw every ounce of firepower they had toward their enemy before they gleamed with satisfaction. In less than thirty seconds, two-star destroyers had died, their reactors going critical in bombastic fireballs of red and blue light.

Meanwhile, the two survivors were doing everything they could to right back. Green bolts impacted everywhere, filling the void with their killing light as no less than a dozen AOF ships died in less than a minute, one-tenth of the fleet dead in the water.

"Converge, all ships converge and destroy these Imperials!"

The Admirals' voice echoed across the fleet-wide net, ordering the sharks to kill, and they followed. The two survivors, now taking refuge behind the still-smoldering wreckage of their compatriots, were quickly hassled by frigate wolf packs. In groups of three, the small ships conducted hit and run attacks time and time again, providing time for the dreadnoughts to both recharge their gun banks and get into a killing position. Cruisers interlocked themselves with the frigates as yet another four cruisers went up in flames, gutted from bow to stern by the energy weapons of the Imperial navy.

"This is the Matriarchs Deliverance, we have a shot, firing!"

The octopush shaped dreadnought, a sister to the once-mighty Destiny ascension had the shot and took it without a thought. Through the wreckage of once-mighty Imperial vessels of war, she fired off a killing blow toward one of the surviving star destroyers. Wreckage the size of cruisers was thrown aside as the glowing blue shot flew through the debris field,and impacted the bow of the Victory-class star destroyer. The bridge of the Asari dreadnought was quiet as they watched the impact sear a line of metal across the arrow-shaped vessel, a gash so large it was visible to the naked eye even from here.

"Goddess…"

The ship, the Imperial vessel had seen exactly where the shot had come from, had seen its would-be killer try to land its shot, and it was angry.

"All engines reverse, all engines reverse!'

The Asari captain was basically screaming as she threw her orders out to the bridge. Bridge crew frantically worked at their consoles as they commanded the ill-maintained ship to respond, but three years of no drydock, of no support, began to show at this exact moment, spelling doom for the once gallant ship. Throwing too much power to the engines the helm attempted to pull a full reverse thrust as engineering began calling to the bridge, their voices practically begging for them to stop. But it would be of no use, as the helm pushed the aging ship further and further toward the red line it finally gave out.

"Engine one is down, engine two is down, engine three is half responding! Engineering reports ruptures in fuel lines two five and seven!"

All chatter died on the bridge at the same moment as they heard these words, they were dead in the water. Seconds later that very bridge was vaporized as a dozen bolts of pure hate impacted along its front. They had gotten cocky, and they were now going to pay for it with their lives. The first round tore away the bridge in a spray of molten metal and burning atmosphere, the next impact hit the crew quarters, and the last impacted the engineering department. Thirty seconds was all it took for one of the most powerful ships in all of the third fleet to be rendered inert, destroyed amidst the debris of a star destroyer.

Shepard had seen all of this from the bridge of the SSV Everest and huffed in despair as he watched the Asari dreadnought turn into molten metal. How many had been on that ship, a thousand? Two thousand? Following the dreadnoughts demise, eight cruisers finally managed to lance the wounded Imperial vessel, too late to save their comrades in arms.

"Shepard."

The voice of the ground team commanders broke his attention away from the space battle and back to the holo table which denoted the landing zones for the coming invasion. Twenty thousand men and women of the Army of freedom would be landing at three select points across the station. These points were the weaknesses of the structure, the Achilles heel so to speak. Gravitational relays, these devices allowed the metal skin of the station the ability to not fall into the star, and they were its biggest weakness. Four of them held it all together, three were to be taken by the AOF, and the last was left up to the four-eyed bug-like alien currently pacing around the other commanding officers.

The collectors had been mute most of the journey, their rock covered craft flying through the void without a bother as they held up formation with the AOF fleet. It was so odd to watch their movements, to see the four eyes on their heads track everything and everyone. It made him a little uneasy just to look at the thing, but he didn't mind it after a while.

"The forty-fifth Turian marines are more than capable of taking point one."

"Alliance marines are ready and able of taking some piss ant gravity tether, just give us the target and we'll take it."

"The Asari commando brigade will be ready and able, we will not fail."

Shepard was going in with the alliance on this one, five thousand former marines from the old days ready and able to take the fight back to the Imperials. He knew this coming fight would be a tough one though as he scanned over the estimated enemy strength and grimaced. Legions, Clone Legions to be exact were situated at hardpoints all over the station. There had to be thousands of the genetically crafted monsters down there, and he was going to be dropping right on top of them.

"Then there it is, report to your units we have a war to win."

Not much of a briefing other than you take here and we win.

**Landing at point three. **

This was it, Operation god hammer would cripple an entire sector and pave the way for an AOF resurgence in the former Asari space. Goldhammer, kind of an edgy name but the command had deemed it ok due to the symbolism which would later be used in their fight against the Empire. As the hundreds of shuttles, landing craft, and frigates began their landing sequences toward the four designated points across the massive station, Shepard mulled over the plan once more.

Seventy thousand troops from both the AOF and the collector would be hitting four gravitational tractor beams located at different points in the station. These beams allowed the metal skin of the object the ability to counteract the gravitational force of the star and allow them to suck the energy away from it, storing it in massive battery banks which littered the surface. The energy was then transferred to waiting ships, massive bulk haulers that were now being shot out of the sky by the navy as the invasion force entered the last phase of deployment. Looking out the window he witnessed as a cruiser fired round after round into the civilian flagged freighter, igniting its onboard energy stores and sending the craft into a super nuclear explosion. How many had been aboard he thought? How many Imperials had he just witnessed explode as their ship destroyed itself around them? Not enough he thought, it would never be enough.

"Thirty seconds!"

The crew chief of the Kodiak screamed over the net as they finally crossed into landing zone three's anti-aircraft screen, and hell enveloped them.

"Incoming!"

Twenty thousand former alliance marines would be landing at point three, facing them would be the forward elements of the Imperial clone nine hundred and eighth coruscant legion. The bread and butter of the Imperial military, the clones would be the only thing standing between them and victory, and they would not be found wanting. Ten-second safer entering the anti-aircraft screen, the frantic cries of dozens of pilots and commanding officers filled the net as they died.

"This is Tusker three, we're going down!"

"Mayday, mayday, lima three going in!"

"This is SSV Carlston, all engines not responding was crash landing on the station!"

Shepard switched back to his team frequency as the crew chief announced ten seconds, this was it, all he had been waiting, time to take the fight back to the Empire. With a thump, the craft landed on the station, the metal on metal contact announcing they had landed. The doors on either side of the craft flew open as the crew chief pulled an LMG and began laying belts of fire toward the enemy.

"Get the fuck out!"

Shepard and his Ns bull rushed out of the craft as the incoming fire began to melt the metal skin of the craft. As Shepard took his first step onto the metal surface of a star covering station, the crew chief took a red laser round to the chest, hitting the deck with a thud as the craft began to take off without its former cargo. Shepard took in the situation before him as hundreds of red rounds impacted all around him.

It was like a vision of hell made manifest, a picture taken from the worst battlefields he had ever seen, it was, to sum it up, a vision of the future. Around him, hundreds of shuttles were offloading thousands of marines, with dozens of the craft being taken out by anti-aircraft fire. The marines, once landed then found themselves in the open everywhere they looked, no cover save for the burning remains of the fallen vehicles, men, and ships around them. To their front, some five meters away, was the gravity beam center where thousands of guns peppered anything that moved with extreme amounts of accuracy and fire.

Off to his left, he could see a frigate slowly but surely list toward the surface, its engines burning as it finally crashed to the surface of the station with a resounding explosion sounding off its death kneel. Every shot here was a kill in the void, thankfully the artificial gravity of the station kept them metal side as the invasion force began to advance toward the citadel of the station. Ten thousand clones occupied this place, ten thousand elite troopers of the Imperial military, and they were here to cut them out like the cancer they were. A Mako IFV thundered alongside his team, its main gun throwing all sorts of metal toward the defenders as it began its slow progress toward the grav center. This would be his team's ticket, walking up the armored vehicles he rapped on the door until the driver's compartment opened and the very angry crew found an N commander staring at them.

"We need a ride to that station! My team will be getting in, and you will take us there!"

"Yes sir!"

So it was like this he now found himself propelling toward the defenders and breakneck speed, weaving in and out of destroyed alliance equipment as the crew traversed a very dangerous path. Bombers followed them in overhead, dropping munitions on the mile tall structure as more and more marines followed them in.

"Alright Shepard, we've got clones at the base of the tower so we're going to need you and your team to get out and move ahead of us. I've got eyes on barricades to use as cover, so we'll provide cover for you as you advance!"

"Roger, alright Ns let show them how the alliance fights!"

Several hurrahs answered him, good, they were going to need the motivation. The armored vehicles lurched to a halt as the overhead gun opened up on their unseen enemy.

"Get out!"

Shepard obliged, throwing open the armored door and once more stepping foot on the metal skin of the station. Other Makos were stopping beside them as the got a look at the entrance to the tower and took cover. There were four rings of barricade protecting the center itself, and within these rings, were the white armor of clone defenders pouring every amount of fire they had into the defenders. He was about to give an order to his Ns when a body slammed into the barricade beside him and grabbed onto his shoulder, yanking him toward its user.

"Commander Shepard!"

By the bars on the officer's chest, Shepard denoted him as being Colonel, commanding officer of the entire alliance invasion force, and he was not happy.

"Shepard, the whole plan gone to shit, we've already lost forty percent of the landing force just fucking getting here! Collectors said they'd be sending reinforcements but they're going to take some time! So, I want you and your team to conduct a vertical assault as we hold their attention here, while we distract you rappel upward and get to that fucking command center, rog!"

"Yes sir!"

"Good, give em hell!"

**Ten minutes later and half a mile up the spire.**

Thank whatever higher power there was for mag boots and gloves he thought as he scaled another floor of this godforsaken tower. Taking a look below he could see the invasion force was following through with the colonels earlier orders as yet another Mako was suddenly destroyed by the outgoing clone fire. Most of the defenders, their white armor visible even from here, we're creating a wider cordon around the spire. Pushing the invasion force back from their earlier gains, and killing thousands. Two LAATs thundered past the spire almost illuminating the eight or so alliance operators currently crawling up the structure at a medium pace.

"Almost there guys, another hundred meters and we set charges on this fucking place."

To take out the grav tether they needed access to the command and control center, and doing that would need the team to blow open a hole to the room itself and breach. They had brought charges for this very reason, ten of them to be exact, which would be used to show these Imperial scum they were not untouchable. They were nearing an anti-aircraft battery as they climbed the last fifty meters, the box-shaped weapon throwing out blistering arrays of fire as its barrel broke up the rather smooth surface of the spire. It had to have been killing hundreds alone as its rounds impacted yet another alliance fighter, sending the pilot and its craft to the ground below in a fireball of dying metal. But he couldn't spare the time or the charges to deal with it, he was here for the command center, nothing else.

By the time he reached the designated area, his Ns had already set up the ring of explosives in a distinct O shape. This was it, the reason thousands below had died in the name of freedom, now was the time.

"Hit it."

With two snaps the charges detonated and sent the metal of the structure outward and into the void of space. It was all fire at first, as the oxygen of the station fed the flames before the first body was suddenly sucked into the void. It was a civilian in an orange jumpsuit, her eyes full of fright as she silently screamed a mute scream. Shepard could see the oxygen leave her body, as every blood vessel suddenly burst in her face before her body was thrown to the ground below. Another Imperial casualty in his book, good for the cause. As the fires died down he gave the order to go in.

"Weapons free on anything you see, no survivors."

They knew the deal, and they would follow his orders to the letter. So they went in and opened fire. Shepard was the last one in and already there was blood in the air from two dozen orange suited bodies who had all been in the middle of putting on their emergency respirators. Civilians, no, enemy combinations aiding and abetting an Empire. But they were in and surrounded by dozens of consoles flashing green on every board, he was here to change that. Through a radio on one of the bodies, a voice broke him out of his reveries as he moved to the master control station located in the center of the room.

"Control, what is going on up there?"

It was a clone's voice, no doubt some type of officer or something. Too late test tube, you already lost. On a dozen holographic screens in front of the MCS, he could see hundreds of clones moving about the spire as they set up defensive positions and waited for the attacking forces. On the screen on the ground level, he could see clones, both dead and alive, firing their weapons toward the unseen attackers as they dutifully defended the control station.

"This is Sierra six, rebel forces have been pushed back to the two hundred meter cordon, orders sir."

"Rog Sierra six, continue to assault the enemy in your sector, do not give them the room to breathe. MCS come in over, if you do not respond we will redirect a platoon toward your position over."

He had to move fast. Inserting the chip he had been given before the invasion, he began playing the keys in the order Miranda he brief him.

MASTER_SWITCH_ON

GRAVITATIONAL_BEAM_ON

REDIRECTT_POWER

_REDIRECITNG POWER

_POWER_REDIRECTED_GRAVITAITONAL_BEAM_50%

_REDIRECT_POWER

_REDIRECTING_POWER

_GRAVITATIONAL_BEAM_25%

_WARNING

_WARNING

_WARNING

_REDIRECT_POWER_OFF_MANUEL_OVERRIDE

_CONFIRM_WARNING

_MANUEL_OVERRIDE

_CONFIRM

_GRAVITAIONAL_BEAM_0%

_IMMINENT_STRCUTRAL_COLLAPSE

It was done, he could already feel the shudders of the station through the metal as the grav beam went offline.

"All teams report in, site three is down, say again site three is down!"

"Rog site three, sites two and four are already offline. Site one is still under fire but making progress, sites two, three, and four, begin evacuation procedures over."

"MCS what the fuck is going on up there!"

Shepard could not hold it in any longer, before this clone died he wanted him to know he had failed. Moving to the body holding the radio, he picked up the small cylindrical device and keyed the mic.

"This is Commander Shepard of the Alliance navy to the test tubes currently screaming into the mic. You and your so-called brothers, and every other motherfucker on this station are already dead. And I say good riddance, for Ilium, for The Citadel, and the Alliance!"

He smashed the radio into the terminals as he prepared to get the hell out of here, a Kodiak would be picking them up from the hole his team blew open. Another strike against the Empire, another nail in the already rotting coffin.

**INV Galience of Devan**

Captain Michael Tuf, commanding officer of the site twenty-seven defense fleet, was beyond sane right now. As his wounded star destroyer limped away from the destruction behind him, he knew the ramifications of today would be galaxy shattering. Resources would be diverted, fleets moved in, and worlds burned the name of this station and its hundreds of thousands of occupants. They would be martyrs, heroes of the Empire, every one of them, killed in the line of duty by nothing more than terrorists. His star destroyer was still trailing smoke as he saw the AOF fleet jump out of the system, now at half strength due to the efforts of his once-proud flotilla. They had done everything they could to rescue as many escape pods, LAATs, and starfighters as they could. The fighter bays and troop hold were filled to the brim with the survivors of this attack, and every single one of them had only one thought on their minds, blood.

Blood would be shed for this, the AOF would pay, the voice which had spoken over the radio would be singled out and destroyed. When he had heard the man speak, his face had taken on a look of pure hate, for only one man had that voice.

"Commander John Shepard, I will kill you, not today, not tomorrow, but I will see your corpse in the void."

"My lord? Command is on the line and requests your presence in the QEC room."

This would not be a good conversation he thought as he entered the QEC room and found the holographic representations of four Lord Admirals, eight fleet Admirals, and…

"My Emperor!"

He kneeled as quickly as he could, careful not to look into the eyes of the most powerful man in existence.

"Rise Captain, and tell us what has happened."

By the end of his tale the admiral's faces were full of nothing more than animals of fury, while in the Empire, he felt a rise of fear as he saw the once blue eyes of the Emperor turn blood red.

"There will be a reckoning for this transgression. Prepare my legion and the Vengeance, we are to depart for Asari space."


	27. A rebirth

**"Calls to war across the sector!"**

**"The Imperial senate decrees Asari space as a NO GO zone, troops called up from three dozen worlds."**

**"To have an entire sector in outright rebellion! We haven't seen this since the first war!"**

**"We should have dealt with these aliens the first time!"**

**INV Vengeance March 10, 2335**

"My lord, we have arrived."

The bridge of the Vengeance class star destroyer was silent, save for the buzz of a radio as the ship and its accompanying escorts excited the blue corona of light speed. Looking out of the glass, the Captain and his liege could see the dozens and then hundreds of vessels coming in alongside as the fleet of Imperial retribution exited FTL and began their just cause. Troop ships carrying millions of auxilia, Imperial army, and the legions now matched speed with ships of the line as the fleet banked downward and the first target came into view. This was to be an Island hopping camping as decreed by the Emperor and the admiralty, a war of speed so unmatched the Asari would not know what hit them.

"Prepare all fighter craft for immediate deployment, I want all of them in the air within ten."

"Yes sire."

The attack on the energy sphere had shaken not just him, but the entire Empire. To know the enemy which they had sought for so long had committed such a blow, it struck every Imperial heart to know millions had already died and the true war hadn't even begun. Entire worlds had thrown themselves to these rebels cause, overnight almost the entire Asari sector had rebelled against their human governors and began mass attacks on all Imperial stations. Armies, fleets, entire planetary governments were now gone, ashes in the face of this rebellion with millions of Imperials dead. All thanks to the Army of Freedom, all thanks to Shepard.

The Emperor grimaced as the orbital war began and the two fleets collided in a brawl of lasers and massed gunfire. He paid no mind, his thoughts on just how this person had survived his execution, how he had come out to destroy the Empire he had built. He'd already informed the ISB to clean this issue up, they were the best of the best and he expected his order to be fulfilled within the month, hopefully. No matter, meanwhile his mind went back to the tales of worlds in disarray, rebellions creeping up, the governments he had installed overthrown by gangs of raving Asari and their ilk. Videos of last stands were now all over the extranet, of Imperial caught within their bases, their rooms, their houses, cut down by rebellions Asari who threw their lives away in the name of freedom and democracy.

He couldn't allow this shame to go unpunished, the ISB could only delete the videos so fast and the more this spread the more these aliens would begin to question. Could they rebel? Was the Empire really in control? No, he would show them all the true price of their defiance, he owls burn this world and the next, until all of these feeble pocket Empires bent the knee to his own and realized their own folly. Only then, when his legions ground those worlds to dust and he collected the skulls of the rebellion's leaders, would he pull back from direct command and return to the galactic view. Until then, the Asari, their worlds, and anyone who dare stand in his way would feel the Emperor's wrath first hand.

"My lord, the enemy fleet is destroyed. Ground side targets are already loaded into the turbo laser batteries, we only await your order."

He hadn't even noticed the explosions begin to dim as the targets before him were killed off one by one.

"You may fire when ready."

"Yes my lord."

The fleet began to align once more from their combat formation. Like a quickly coiling snake, the hundreds of ships began to encircle the world in tight formations as they prepared themselves for what was to come. Recon drones, overhead flights, and ground side SF teams had already mapped out every city, every camp, and every base of the local rebellion, informing the navy of the exact coordinates needed to level all of them. He would not waste troops cutting out this cancer, easier to burn it away and be done with it.

"All ships, fire."

Greenlight leaped before his eyes as the bolts of preheated gas and light shot out toward the planet below. Mighty explosions, visible with the naked eye from orbit signaled the deaths of hundreds of thousands as they were swept away in great masses of fire, signaling the true response of an Empire angered by their lessers. He could only guess what it was like below, the masses of people, running from their doom, unknowing of the target, and believing themselves still somehow free. No matter, they would kneel before him and beg for his forgiveness, they would plead with him to take them back within the Imperial fold, back to the Empire. He would debate, of course, thinking about the economic and military output of this world and decide if they were to live or die, and then they would leave. Behind them a garrison force to keep the newly inducted Imperials in line and this world would become an example to others, others who were no doubt watching from space and maybe even on this ship…

He let his mind sink into the space between spaces, the realm of deities and gods unknown, the shroud. Unseen by anyone the Emperor's eyes went a blood-red as he felt the thoughts and minds around him and discerned possible cretins to his cause. The Captains and Admirals were going over the next world, speaking of how they would destroy the enemy defense fleet and scour the planet just as this one. Moving on there were the radio operators, inputting codes and sending orders, naval personnel doing all manner of jobs required by an entire star destroyer, and the.

Hold on.

His mind felt the thoughts of someone, something, inhuman. Alien. Aboard this very ship, like a shark to its prey, he latched on to the alien's thoughts as it began to speak its mind doing its work aboard his ship.

"Engines operating at ninety-eight percent efficiency will need to check on power coupling thirty-eight. Moving on, weapons reports gun usage in one hundred percent, power output, nominal. Good, very good."

An alien operating in the engineering department? Interesting, very interesting. His mind dealt deeper into, into hers? Yes it was a her, female, Quarian, around twenty-five, wearing an Imperial uniform… Had the navy begun hiring them without his notice? No matter, the Quarians were one species in this god-forsaken galaxy he could work with.

"Commander Trac."

The clone, hearing his name mentioned, appeared beside his Emperor within an Instant.

"Yes sir."

"While this business is going on, we are going to take a trip to engineering."

"Yes my lord."

**Naval Lieutenant Tali'Zorah Vas Rannoch, INV Vengeance**

"Power coupling thirty-eight, reading, oh that's not good. Twenty-eight percent efficacy, we're going to have to replace you."

Tali had been fidgeting with the broken power coupling for what felt like twenty minutes now as she stabbed, banged on, and prodded every which way possible as she tried to unscrew the broken machinery. It didn't help that the ship shuddered every thirty seconds as one of the gun batteries let lose another torrent of fire to the planet below. She didn't want to think of it, what those guns were doing, how many people…

Back to the power coupling, she had to keep her mind off of the war. She had enlisted to see the stars once again and well, now she found herself an officer among the Imperial navy.

Normally an officer such as her would never be found among the grease and machinery which she thrived in. Officers were meant to be supervisors, dishing out orders to subordinates and keeping the ship strong and healthy. Paperwork was their charge, and pen and paper their weapons in doing their duty aboard ships of the line. And she would have been doing this, the computers, the powerpoints, the memos, if it weren't for her heritage and the very distinct face mask and backward legs. Well, backward to the humans, sorry the Imperials, not to her. The senior engineering officer had taken one look at her and had told her she was to be the power coupling and engine output watch officer, responsible for metal and metal alone. She took no command, she held no sailors, she was responsible for herself and the power couplings and engine output of the ship and that was that.

She wasn't exactly keen to take over a command either that was a fact. The way the sailors and other officers looked at her, with anger, violent anger at that. Her first day on the job she had entered the officer's mess to find a very angry lieutenant losing his shit at just seeing her, lashing out with a blade it had taken two stormtroopers to subdue the man. After the incident, the ship's mess had taken to using wheeled robots to deliver her rations, thus keeping her out of the mess. So now her daily life was either clogging up machinery, replacing machinery, checking on power outputs, and walking around the bowels of this massive ship. And massive it was, nearly five times the size of the Destiny ascension it would take her an entire day just to go from one side to the other.

"Hah, got it!"

The coupling had finally come undone, pulling out the quite rusted piece she used her other hand to reach back into the hallway and grab onto the box holding the new one. These things, just how important this small band of metal could be to an entire section of the ship. Five of these go up and they lose an entire gun battery, twenty and they lose this entire deck. Feeling the ship shudder yet again, she began to screw the new coupling into place and felt the snap of the sealant applying. Under her mask she smiled, knowing that her job in this section of the ship was complete and she could go do what she really wanted to do, explore.

Exploring a ship like this was her one piece of happiness she could take a share of every day. When else would she have ever gotten the opportunity to be on an Imperial star destroyer, other than with Shepard…..

Her mind was like ice thinking about her former Captain, all those years ago he had been lost, killed by the very people who wore the uniform she now wore. She should have been ashamed, to even bear that symbol on her shoulder yet there it stood. Blood red against the white of her suit, her hand just brushed the rank plaque which stood above her left breast. She was an Imperial now, every day since she had graduated from the officer's academy she had told herself that as she looked into the mirror. An Imperial, a naval officer among the most advanced navy in the galaxy. She had told herself this was to see the stars, to fight for what was right once again, and make her father proud. Who really knew at this point though she thought, as yet another shudder went through the deck plating.

Removing herself from her hole in the wall, she replaced the small slice of metal which had been in its place. With the job complete she now had the rest of the ship's day cycle to do what she wanted, unless her boss called up of course. Moving along the twisting corridors and decks of the ship now, she was ecstatic to enter a part of the ship she had never been into, the vehicle bay. It was here they deployed the legions aboard the star destroyer and it was here where the soldiers and clones would be found.

Her time with clones had been small so far, hushed conversations here and there, quiet "Ma'ams" as they passed her in the hallways. They were odd beings, all alike in size and voice, and all sharing the same mind it felt like most of the time. A rigorous zeal to fight for the Emperor, the Empire, and to defend humanity to their dying breath. Admirable, if they hadn't already smashed through the entire galaxy and shown the former Citadel council just where it lay in the grand scheme of things.

Although none of her people would dare admit it, they had all been glad to see the Imperial flag waving on the Citadel as the former powers were torn down and burned away. For once those pompous bags had been shown their place, beaten down and brushed out like the Quarian people had been so long ago. And now, thanks to the Empire her people had returned home, returned home to where they belonged.

"Creator Lieutenant Zorah."

She stopped dead in her tracks at the synthetic voice of one created by her people. It had caught her in a long corridor near the bottom of the ship, it must have been hiding away in one of the pockets to the side which held masses of sensors, wires, and all other manners of cabling related to keeping the ship alive. Hearing the click-clack of its taloned hands working on a keyboard, she looked to her left to find a Geth standing there, not even staring back at her.

"Creator Lieutenant Zorah, this unit welcomes you to maintenance section three seven delta. It has been seven days since the last organic being has occupied this space, we greet you."

What in the ancestors?

"Uh, yes hello Geth."

The navy had requisitioned millions of the Geth to act as manual labor in areas regular human sailors would rather not work. Remembering an earlier briefing she recounted how there were one thousand Geth units aboard this very ship, one of them now standing before her.

"Greetings, this unit has recorded your arrival and logged it for future usage, have a nice day."

Weirded out, tali left the Geth to continue on toward the deployment bay. How odd it was, for an Empire so big to have not used AI at some point but she digressed, there were many things about the Empire she still had yet to understand and many more things no doubt to come. Riding an elevator upward, she had to wait a scant few seconds before she had already crossed eight decks and entered the deployment bay, a far cry from the old Normandy's elevator.

It was so loud, she thought as she entered. Leaving the usual calmness of the personnel elevator she was met with the banging of machinery, the yelling of NCOs and officers drilling troops, and the slight crackle of laser weaponry fire as units test-fired weapons on the inbuilt range. None of them would be heading down to the planet below then, these being the elite of the legions, Army, and Auxilia no doubt they would have been put in reserve for more viable targets befitting of their status.

This place was a far cry from the Normandy deployment bay, ancestors you could fit several of the old "frigates" in here and still have room for an entire legion. Hearing the doors slide shut behind her, she was now left as the lone sailor among the tens of thousands of troops preparing themselves for the coming campaign. Off to her right she saw the legions as she walked in between the three very distinct areas for the differing troops. Their white armor, backlit against the grey drabs of the ship's frame stood out as they drilled themselves in battle drills and group tactics. Using hard light barriers to act as building, cover, and all other manner of what were obviously Asari buildings, the competing legions war-gamed against each other in dazzling displays of light and firepower. There were the blues of the Emperors chosen, the elite of the elite marked upon their armor as they fought their kin in red among the ruins of an Asari city. Even from here, it was easy to tell the winner amongst them all, the blues of the Emperor's legion were quickly winning against their ren kin.

Off to her right were the Imperial army units, the regulars, unmodded humans who had shown bravery and tenacity in the field. In their green armor, they looked like a sea of bushes as they tore down equipment, drilled on their own battle tactics, and went over strategies. It was an entire tent city out there with differing sized tents offering accommodations, food, and all manner of needs for the regular ground soldiers.

A platoon of them were running by as she passed, forty men and women huffing and puffing as their platoon sergeant yelled cadence to the bedraggled soldiers. She noted the hateful glares thrown her way as they passed but didn't mind, she was navy, then the army, they had no power over her and if that wasn't enough, she was an officer. The platoon Sergeant noting her rank plaque stopped his cadence and gave a curt "Ma'am" before continuing on further down the steel deck. Passing the motor pools now she got a good look at the variety of tracked vehicles that crowded the motor pool along with the wheeled comrades as they rolled out here and there.

Underneath, mechanics cussed, beat, and screamed an unwavering metal as they prepared their units armor for the coming battle. These were her people, the movers of metal, fixers of equipment, people who spoke the same language she did. So she took it upon herself to enter the slight walled-off area and take her look at the military armor.

"Motherfucker!"

The ding of a boot hitting metal sounded off near a bulky infantry fighting vehicle further down the line. She found an eight-foot tall armoured beast with a wiry looking mechanic working on the tracks, face covered in sweat he had been kicking down a torque wrench when Tali had heard him.

"Fucking piece of shit, why won't you move!"

Seeing something white in the corner of his eye, the mechanic looked up to find an alien of all things looking at him. Odd, he didn't think an alien would be on an Imperial vessel, it was then his eyes noted the naval uniform and rank plaque.

"Ma'am!"

He shouted as his hand went for a salute which she returned in kind.

"At ease soldier, what seems to be the problem here?"

Easing himself, he swatted at the sweat on his forehead before pointing down at the still unmoving torque wrench.

"Tracks need to be tightened up, but the damn just isn't moving. I know your navy and all so this isn't exactly your area of expertise but-"

"Let me take a look."

The mechanic was bewildered as this alien officer then in five seconds flat had gotten the wrench to move, fully tightening it down and securing the tracks. Now dazed the mechanic hadn't even heard the officer tell him it was down before she had already left. Leaving him standing beside his wrench, confused as to what just had happened.

Tali meanwhile gave a slight chuckle under her mask as she left the motor pool. The human hadn't put the pressure gage to the right poundage, making his job that much harder for himself. She had just exited the wire cage surrounding the area when her face mask met chest, and she was staring at an Army captain.

"What in god's name is the navy doing in my motor pool!"

"I'm sorry I was just…."

Her voice didn't leave her throat as her eyes met with the other, now very familiar officer. The eyes, the hair in a tight bun, it would have all fit in three years ago if it weren't for the green camouflage fatigues, thick carapace armor plates, and the holstered laser pistol on her waist. Just like her, she wore an Imperial cog on her shoulder and just like her the bars of rank were denoted upon her left breast. Shakingly and mentally breaking on the inside she spoke.

"Ash?"

**Garrus, Fox Company 1st Battalion 334th Auxilia Legion. **

"Alright, you fuck heads, prepare for landing. Wreav your platoon is first up, get your asses in gear!"

Captain Garrus Vakarian had wobbly legs as the troop lander moved through the void of space, holding onto the overhead cable he was able to only stay upright just barely as the craft dodged other craft in the very packed space. The fleet was on the move, the legions once again at war and his unit having been requisitioned by HIGH COM command. The three thirty-fourth and its accompanying assets were to be sent to the Emperor's flagship, the INV Vengeance and await further orders. So it was now, packed like fish in a can and thrown into the void, that he and every member of the legion were now on their way.

In the couple weeks time he had come to know his company, he had quickly and mercilessly broken them, rebuilt them, and made them into the shock troops the Empire needed. They were to be the first on the ground in the coming campaign, the proverbial tip of the spear where their only purpose was to break the enemy and prepare them for the coming waves. He was ok with this, it only meant he was to stay in the legion, stay in the fight, and stay with his brothers. Three years and three months he had been a legionnaire, and that would not end today or any other.

"Three minutes to landing, say again, three minutes to landing."

The void battle had been swift and merciless, all of the navy's mercy gone as they heard the tale of millions dead. The Asari fleet had been cut from the void and their planet now glassed as per Imperial decree, an example to others who would dare rebel the Emperor's word. His legion would not be fighting in this battle no, they would be selected for a nastier assignment, a war which called for the brutality of the auxilia.

"Two minutes."

Word had it that Ash's regiment was already abroad, selected like his to be apart of the elite. No other auxilia legion had been selected to board the Emperor's flagship, none other could stand beside them if they could. The three thirty-fourth had fought on a dozen worlds, shown bravery and zeal far more than any other, and finally, they had earned their just reward. Service to the Emperor, his right hand and mighty fist, the breakers of worlds.

The Krogan, once the pirates and scoundrels, meat for the slaughter of any gang that would have them, now boasted the Imperial cog proudly as they prepared themselves for landing. He had turned them from rabble to warriors, gangsters to the pride of the Imperial army who now understood what honor, dedication, and loyalty would mean to them in their service to the Empire.

"One minute, landing party prepare for arrival."

Through the windows on the outside, Garrus saw each of his Krogan crank their long heads and look out toward the black void. Getting closer and closer by the second, the dark grey frame of the arrowhead shaped ship came into view as the lander burned across its bow. Turnbolaser fire shot forth from the underside as the batteries went to work on the planet below. Each shot was the death of thousands, yet Garrus felt nothing in it, nothing at all save for cold indifference towards those who would anger the Empire. Just as they began their descent beneath, the thick block letters of this ship's name came into view.

INV VENGEANCE

"Landing in three, two, one, touchdown."

The ship came to a sudden halt as the light of a hanger came into view, passing through the blue-ray shields the craft stopped on a dime as its landing gear deployed and it hit the metal deck.

"Landing party, door opening stay clear."

The forward door to the lander opened the noise of a quickly dying engine hit his ears as the naval personnel rushed his men forward. Wreav was the first out with his platoon, Garrus and the command section following behind as their new home shines its light upon its newest occupants.

Off to his right was obviously the area reserved for the Legions, the sea of white armor glistening in the light as clones trained everywhere. To his left and forward were the army, the regiments of soldiers doing the same with entire battalions worth of soldiers moving about a veritable sea of tents. And he guessed, to his front left, this was the area designated for the auxilia. It was smaller in comparison to the army and the clones but then again, it was the single auxilia legion compared to the dozen or so regiments and the three legions of clones.

"Home sweet home! Wreav, get your platoon to prepare the bivouac, T'Kun set up the mess hall! And Farran, get me comms with the local commanders!"

"Yes sir!"

The legions were home, and ready for war.

**Shaler, Yut System Free Asari Space.**

Shepard ducked as yet another wave of Imperial fire hit the brock behind him, overhead artillery screeched from the heavens to impact the police station along with a flyover of gunships, and it was only morning. What had begun as his first strike against the Empire had started exactly what he had planned, a chain reaction of events which would see the former Imperial Asari worlds turn on their masters and enact justice. Justice which he now participated in first hand as he gunned down yet another Imperial. This world, like dozens of others, had pledged themselves to the AOF as soon as possible, wishing for soldiers, weapons, ships, and equipment, they had received everything possible to ensure their victory.

The Citadel council, the last three remaining members of a political body which had once governed the entirety of this galaxy, had gone all in. Every fleet, every army, every weapon, and every tool had been thrown in support of this rebellion in the hopes it would secure their future as a free state. Though none would think of it or speak of it in large circles, everyone knew freedom, freedom in this galaxy and the next relied on this very moment. To Shepard he saw it for what it was, the last-ditch effort to create and reclaim this part of the galaxy, to cement themselves a nation of their own.

They had the supplies and tools to defend, to hold onto what they had gained in the hopes of bleeding the enemy into submission. They knew there was no grand offensive after this, no campaign to free the rest of the stars, no. This was it, this rebellion of free men and women that dared look into the eye of the Emperor himself and say no. So it was here Shepard found himself, running into cover with his squad of Ns and attacking the remnants of this decaying Empire.

"Get the MGs to suppress these motherfuckers, Carson! I want bombers on that station! Miranda!"

"Here!"

The former Cerberus operative turned Imperial captive turned AOF agent sprinted into cover beside and slammed down just as another wave of red bolts impacted the building around them. Gone was her catsuit and heels, replaced with some scavenged marine armor they had picked up from the dead. They had barely any factories and the one they had did not produce armor, so they recycled what they could.

"I want you to take echo team and flank left down the street, from there."

He pulled out his omni tool and displayed the local map, green and red dots showed where enemy and friendly focus was located as both sides waxed and waned in the attack.

"Strike right, advance into the motor pool below the station and attack upward. I will lead the diversionary attack at the front with the rebels, clear?"

"Cyrstal, Echo with me!"

While she left down an alleyway and away from Imperial forces, Shepard was left to look across the massive open parking lot separating him and the former police station. Like any other rebelling world, they had each taken the choice to throw off their shackles through violence and war. Some were more successful than others, as agents inside the Imperial bureaucracy broke it down from within and resolved the issue with as little bloodshed as possible. Here on Shaler, an Asari colony deep within Asari space, it was the direct opposite.

The opening stages of the rebellion had been small units tearing off the Imperial cog and pegging themselves to the AOF. In other places, the people rose up and stormed government buildings, police stations, and out of the way military bases for arms and armor before a general march to the capital took place. Shaler had been a manufacturing world designated by the Empire to produce hand grenades and other small arms to include the sought after laser rifles. Thus this had earned them a garrison force of three army regiments, four auxilia legions, and a single clone legion to guard the capital and the governor. Above, two light cruisers were attached in geosynchronous orbit, ready and able to deploy a company's worth of clones or small spats of orbital fire.

Both ships had died a week ago, the remains having crashed into the planet's oceans and the garrison army now stuck to build up and dig in for the long haul. In all, one hundred thousand Imperial soldiers now hold onto the capitol with an Iron fist as they protected the governor and those loyal Imperials still planetside. This of course included Asari of all things, nonhumans who would have rather seen themselves under the Empire than the freedom of the council. This had flabbergasted Shepard of course but there was nothing he could do about it.

So it now fell upon the Shaler rebel forces, and those AOF troops sent here to break the back of the Empire and truly make this world free, ten yards at a time. Around him his squad of Ns kept up a heavy bout of suppressive fire on the police station as local asari filled the open spaces. Obvious civilians dressed in military garb and carrying rifles they hardly knew how to use, they were nothing more than meat to the slaughter but they were meat that took bullets, and to Shepard, that's all that mattered.

"This is November seven requesting fire mission."

"November seven send it."

"Coornidantes marked on tac pad, request five rounds HE."

"Rog, were seeing friendlies danger close how-"

"Battery fire, friendlies are replaceable."

The former alliance marine on the other end sighed for a second as Shepard felt the cogs in his mind turn at his words. Expendable, they were here to help these people yet here he was calling them expendable. Just like Torfon, hell this was nothing like Torfon.

"Rog fire mission received, splash in forty seconds."

Forty seconds and this egg would crack right open, even now as he looked down the scope of his marine issue sniper rifle he was able to see the defenders as they tried to hold back the tide and failed. Although rebel losses were horrendous, there was a slight gain every few minutes as new pieces of cover were found or some rebels would get their wits and fire. There, he saw a tentacled head in one of the windows in a green uniform, an Auxilia then, one of the alien legionnaires. No matter, he fired and let loose the heavy calibers ammunition meant to take out tanks and watched the Imperial Asairs head quite simply explode.

This section of the city had been guarded by the six seventy-eighth Qi legion, a unit that had come from the Asari worlds on a rotation from the other galaxy. Battle-hardened, rebel and AOF command had seen this as the easiest force to break, they had been wrong. Whatever it is they had fought in the other galaxy had made them like stone, hard, long-living, although like stone they would break, and Shepard would be their breaker.

The artillery impacted a hundred yards away with a massive thump as shells arched to impact all at the same time did so with effect. With the naked eye he was able to see as the front of the station was simply vaporized, a great hole torn open and contents left to spill out as both Rebel and Imperial focus reacted to the indirect fire. With their forward defense now down, Shepard saw his opportunity and stood before looking to his left and right down the road. A mass of Asari faces looked at him as he surveyed the damage, dead and dying Asari, dead and dying Imperials met his eyes as they locked with the building once more.

"Shepard we are in, ready to move on your mark."

With the depression of a switch, Shepard activated his omni blade and pointed the orange glowing shaft toward the police station. With a bellow, he screamed out his order to those rebels which remained.

"CHARGE!"


End file.
